The Taliban could isolate Afghanistan's capital Kabul in 30 days and possibly take it over in 90, a US defense official told Reuters Wednesday citing US intelligence, as the resurgent militant group has taken control of eight provincial Afghan capitals already.
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The official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said that the new assessment of how long Kabul could stand was a result of the rapid gains the Taliban was making in the country as the US is withdrawing its troops.
"But this is not a foregone conclusion," the official added, saying that the Afghan security forces could reverse the momentum by putting up more resistance.
The Islamists now control 65% of Afghanistan and have taken or threaten to take 11 provincial capitals, a senior EU official said on Tuesday.
All gateways to Kabul, which lies in a valley surrounded by mountains, were choked with civilians entering the city and fleeing violence elsewhere, a Western security source in the city told Reuters, making it hard to tell whether Taliban fighters were also getting through.
"The fear is of suicide bombers entering the diplomatic quarters to scare, attack and ensure everyone leaves at the earliest opportunity," he said.
Wednesday's loss of Faizabad, the capital of the northeastern province of Badakhshan, was the latest setback. It came as President Ashraf Ghani flew to Mazar-i-Sharif to rally old warlords to the defense of the biggest city in the north as Taliban forces closed in.
Jawad Mujadidi, a provincial council member from Badakhshan, said the Taliban had laid siege to his city before launching an offensive on Tuesday.
"With the fall of Faizabad, the whole of the northeast has come under Taliban control," he told Reuters.
The Taliban are battling to defeat the US-backed government and impose strict Islamic law in the country. The speed of their advance has shocked the government and its allies.
United States President Joe Biden urged Afghan leaders to fight for their homeland, saying on Tuesday he did not regret his decision to withdraw American troops from the country. He noted that Washington had spent more than $1 trillion over 20 years in Afghanistan and lost thousands of troops.
The US was providing significant air support, food, equipment and salaries to Afghan forces, Biden said.
The US will complete the withdrawal of its forces this month in exchange for Taliban promises to prevent Afghanistan being used for international terrorism.
The militant group gave word not to attack foreign forces as they withdraw but did not agree to a ceasefire with the government. A commitment by the Taliban to talk peace with the government has come to nothing as they eye military victory.
A US source familiar with intelligence assessments said that the views offered a "range" of possible outcomes, from a rapid Taliban takeover to an extended fight to a possible negotiated agreement between the militants and current government.
A senior Taliban leader told Reuters that the head of the group's Political Office, Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar, met US Special Envoy for Afghan Reconciliation Ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad in Qatar on Tuesday.
No details of the meeting have been released. One of the meetings expected to take place on Wednesday will be of the Troika Plus - a platform led by the US, China and Russia. The Taliban leader, requesting anonymity, said that a Taliban delegation would also take part.
The Taliban advances have raised fears of a return to power of the hardline militants who emerged in the early 1990s from the chaos of civil war. They controlled most of the country from 1996 to 2001, when they were ousted by a US-led campaign for harboring al Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden.
A new generation of Afghans, who have come of age since 2001, fear that the progress made in areas such as women's rights and media freedom will be squandered.
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