[News]Afghanistan war: Taliban capture regional capital Zaranj

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A city in southwestern Afghanistan has become the country's first provincial capital to fall to the Taliban in recent years. Multiple local officials said the Taliban had captured Zaranj, in Nimroz province, on Friday afternoon, in a major blow to government forces. The militants continue to make rapid advances in the country, as foreign troops withdraw. They have taken swathes of countryside and are now targeting key cities. Other provincial capitals under pressure include Herat in the west, and the southern cities of Kandahar and Lashkar Gah. Zaranj is a major trading hub near the border with Iran. After capturing surrounding districts, the militants made a sustained bid to seize the city. Nimroz's Deputy Governor Roh Gul Khairzad told AFP news agency Zaranj had fallen "without a fight". She and other local officials complained of a lack of reinforcements from the government.

 

 

"The city was under threat for a while, but no one from the central government listened to us," Ms Khairzad said. Some reports said a deal had been reached with the Taliban that allowed local officials to flee to Iran with their families. The insurgents claimed victory in a post shared on Twitter. "This is the beginning, and see how other provinces fall in our hands very soon," a Taliban commander told Reuters. Pictures posted on social media showed civilians looting items from government buildings. Taliban insurgents were photographed inside the local airport and posing at the entrance to the city.

 

 

The last time the Taliban won a provincial capital was in 2016, when they briefly held the northern city of Kunduz. The militants have swept through Afghanistan in recent months, launching a major offensive to coincide with the withdrawal of US forces after 20 years of military operations. The capture of Zaranj will add to their momentum. On Thursday night, US and Afghan forces launched air strikes on the group's positions in Lashkar Gah, the capital of Helmand province.

 

 

Government troops have vowed not to lose the strategically significant city, and fighting there has been fierce. Officials have urged civilians to evacuate, with thousands trapped or fleeing for their lives. media captionIn July, the BBC's Yogita Limaye travelled to Afghanistan's Kunduz province, most of which has fallen to the Taliban The UN's special envoy for Afghanistan, Deborah Lyons, on Friday said the war in the country had entered a "new, deadlier, and more destructive phase", with more than 1,000 civilians killed in the past month. She warned that the country was heading for "catastrophe", and called on the UN Security Council to issue an "unambiguous statement that attacks against cities must stop now". "

 

 

To attack urban areas is to knowingly inflict enormous harm and cause massive civilian casualties. Nonetheless, the threatening of large urban areas appears to be a strategic decision by the Taliban, who have accepted the likely carnage that will ensue," she said. Earlier on Friday, the director of Afghanistan's government media centre was assassinated by Taliban militants in the capital, Kabul. The Taliban said Dawa Khan Menapal had been "punished for his deeds".

 

 

PROFILE: Who are the Taliban? ANALYSIS: How the Taliban retook half of Afghanistan ON THE GROUND: Bodies on the streets as fighting traps Afghans US Chargé d'Affaires to Afghanistan Ross Wilson tweeted that he was "saddened and disgusted" by the killing, adding: "These murders are an affront to Afghans' human rights and freedom of speech." Days earlier, an attack on the Afghan defence minister's house in Kabul left at least eight people dead. The minister, Bismillah Khan Mohammadi, was not at home at the time.

 

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