Afghanistan : Taliban controls 4 state centers in two days and Kabul mobilizes to stop the advance

Plumes of smoke rise from the city of Lashkar Gah in Helmand province as a result of battles between government forces and the Taliban movement
Today, Sunday, the advance of the Taliban movement in northern Afghanistan accelerated after seizing the centers of two new provinces, while the Kabul government is trying to stop the movement's progress by mobilizing forces and air strikes.
The Taliban announced that its fighters had taken control of the capitals of the states of Kunduz and Sari Pul, which bear the same names, bringing the number of state capitals controlled by the movement to 4 in just two days, according to the movement.
The movement's spokesman, Zabihullah Mujahid, said that the capital of Kunduz province, including the governor's office, the prison building and the intelligence building, were captured, after battles described by the French press agency as intense.
Mujahid denounced what he considered a war crime after bombing markets, shops and public facilities in Kunduz. Eyewitnesses broadcast video clips showing fires and destruction in markets and public facilities.
While a member of the provincial council in Kunduz, Amr al-Din Wali, said that the Taliban had taken control of all the main government facilities in the city, except for the army corps and the airport, correspondent Younes Ait Yassin reported that the city of Kunduz witnessed a state of chaos during the battles that took place today, pointing to the outbreak of fires. As a result of the bombing of markets in the city.
He said that the militants of the movement released all those who were in the central prison in Kunduz, including fighters from the movement, noting that this may come in implementation of the general amnesty policy announced by the Taliban on Saturday.
He added that the Taliban closed the strategic road between Kunduz and Takhar, which is supposed to be used by government forces to bring in military reinforcements.
Taliban had announced that it had taken control of the state headquarters and the central prison in Jawzjan state, while government forces said that they were still sending reinforcements to the state, and that the matter had not yet been settled for the Taliban movement.
He also referred to news that Uzbek commander Abdul Rashid Dostum had mobilized Uzbek fighters to bring them to the city of Sheberghan, the capital of Jowzjan province, in support of the government forces in the face of the Taliban, explaining that President Ashraf Ghani met Dostum yesterday, Saturday, and assured him the government's readiness to support him in this endeavour.
Continuous advance to the north
Shortly after the Taliban announced its takeover of Kunduz, its spokesman, Zabihullah Mujahid, confirmed that the movement's forces had taken control of the capital of Saribul province, which is located in the north of the country.
He said that their forces also stormed the city of Taleqan (the center of the nearby state of Takhar) and took control of large areas in it, such as the Oti Gate, the Sixth District and the Cossack area, adding that the movement's militants also stormed the Astana Kalan area in the state of Panjshir (northeast), and they are advancing towards the center of the state.
In the past two days, the Taliban announced the control of the city of Sheberghan, the capital of Jowzjan province, bordering Turkmenistan (in the north), and the city of Zaranj, the capital of Nimroz, on the border with Iran (southwest).
Before that, the movement attacked the city of Herat (west), and took control of parts of it, but government forces with the support of the forces of the local leader Ismail Khan confronted them.
American raid
The Afghan Ministry of Defense announced that 200 Taliban militants were killed in a raid carried out by a US B-52 aircraft on the movement's sites in Jawzjan province.
On the other hand, the Taliban said that a B-52 aircraft targeted a school in the city of Lashkar Gah in Helmand Province (southern Afghanistan), killing and wounding civilians and militants of the movement.
In other field developments, Al-Jazeera correspondent quoted the spokesman for the Afghan Ministry of Defense, Fuad Aman, that the government forces began a military operation in the southern provinces of Kandahar and Helmand.
A spokesman for the Ministry of Defense said that new military reinforcements arrived at Kandahar airport to support the forces in the south of the country.
He added that a Taliban military commander was killed in clashes with government forces in Helmand province.
In turn, a government security source said that the runway of Kandahar airport was hit by missiles on Sunday, which necessitated the cancellation of all flights to the province.
On Sunday, the government announced that it had recaptured Jerry in Kandahar province from the Taliban, and yesterday it had announced the restoration of Dand District, adjacent to Kandahar city.
Since the beginning of the withdrawal of foreign forces from Afghanistan weeks ago, the Taliban has expanded the scope of its attacks, and has been able to control new areas and border outlets in a number of states in the north, south and west, at a time when Washington confirmed that the movement now controls more than half of the Afghan provinces.
Washington demanded that the movement stop its attacks and be regular in the peace process, and the US forces carried out several air raids in an effort to stop the advance of the movement's militants.
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