As the Taliban took control of six Afghan provincial capitals on Tuesday, forcing tens of thousands to flee their homes, Ashraf Ghani’s government in the country called for “robust air support” from India.
According to a report published in ThePrint, the Afghan government wants the Indian Air Force (IAF) to enter the country and support the Afghan Air Force because it fears the Taliban “will certainly” step up their level of violence once the US forces withdraw troops completely before August 31.
Fighting between Afghan government forces and the Taliban has intensified in recent days and insurgents are now eyeing Mazar-i-Sharif, the largest city in the north, whose fall would signal the total collapse of government control in a region traditionally anti-Taliban.
Government forces are also fighting die-hard Islamists in Kandahar and Helmand, the southern Pashtun-speaking provinces from which the Taliban derive their strength.
The United States, which is due to complete a withdrawal of its troops at the end of the month and end its longest war, has all but left the battlefield. However, Washington’s special envoy Zalmay Khalilzad is now in Qatar trying to convince the Taliban to agree to a ceasefire. Khalilzad “will pressure the Taliban to stop their military offensive,” the State Department said, and “will help formulate a joint international response to the rapidly deteriorating situation.”
Envoys from Qatar, Great Britain, China, Pakistan, Uzbekistan, the United Nations, and the European Union were also due to discuss the situation in Afghanistan.
But even with a new round of talks underway, Pentagon spokesman John Kirby said it was up to the Afghan government and its forces to turn the tide, and that there was “not much – something “the United States could do to help.
The Taliban seized a sixth Afghan provincial capital on Monday following a weekend blitz in the north that saw urban centers fall in rapid succession. The government struggled to keep militants at bay.
Insurgents entered Aibak without a fight after community elders pleaded with authorities to spare the town from further violence after weeks of clashes on the outskirts, said Sefatullah Samangani, vice-governor of the province of Samangan.
Fighting in the long-running conflict in Afghanistan has escalated dramatically since May when the US-led military coalition began the final stage of a withdrawal that is expected to be completed before the end of the month.
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