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Taliban capture Mazar-e-Sharif, capital of Balkh Province

Afghan security personnel patrol on the outskirts of Mazar-e-Sharif, northern Afghanistan

14 August 2021 22:34 (UTC +04:00)

An Afghan lawmaker says the city of Mazar-e-Sharif, the capital of Balkh province, has fallen to the Taliban after the insurgents launched a major assault there earlier in the day, APA reports citing The Hindu.

The lawmaker from Balkh, Abas Ebrahimzada, says the province's national army corps surrendered first, which then prompted the pro-government militias and other forces to lose morale and give up in the face of Friday's onslaught.

Balkh is the second-largest province in Afghanistan and its capital, Mazar-e-Sharif, is the fourth-largest city.

According to the lawmaker, all of the provincial installations and government offices, including the governor’s office, are now in Taliban hands.

The insurgents have captured much of northern, western and southern Afghanistan in a breakneck offensive less than three weeks before the U.S. is set to withdraw its last troops, raising fears of a full militant takeover or another Afghan civil war.

The Taliban have made major advances in recent days, including capturing Herat and Kandahar, the country's second- and third-largest cities. They now control about 20 of Afghanistan's 34 provinces, leaving the Western-backed government with a smattering of provinces in the center and east, as well as Kabul.

On Saturday, the Taliban captured all of Logar province, just south of the capital, Kabul, and detained local officials, said Hoda Ahmadi, a lawmaker from the province. She said the Taliban have reached the Char Asyab district, just 11 kilometers (7 miles) south of Kabul.