The Taliban stormed five provincial capitals in Northern Afghanistan over the weekend, putting the future of the Afghan government at risk after the Biden administration withdrew from the region.
Kunduz, an Afghan city of more than 370,000, fell to Taliban militants on Sunday amid a larger bid to topple the country’s government, which no longer receives the support of U.S. troops. The provincial capitals of the Sar-e-Pul and Takhar provinces fell shortly after to other Taliban sieges, while the terrorists took two other capital cities on Friday and Saturday.
As the terrorist organization seizes large swathes of Afghan territory, American officials are warning citizens to leave the country due to an "extremely limited" ability to protect them, even in the capital city of Kabul. The U.S. embassy has announced the highest travel advisory possible, warning Americans that they run the risk of facing kidnapping and armed conflict in Afghanistan. Nearly all American troops have exited the country, with the exception of a few hundred troops protecting the embassy.
Nader Nadery, the head of Afghanistan’s civil-service commission and a lead negotiator with the Taliban, said the peace process between the government and the terrorist group has broken down.
"What you see is an increased level of violence and brutality and recklessness in carrying out the fight against the civilian population," Nadery told the Wall Street Journal. "The Taliban have shown zero interest in a meaningful peace discussion. The Taliban did not respect any element of the Doha agreement, while the United States did."
Taliban forces face few hurdles in the way of a total takeover of the country. President Joe Biden has admitted the terrorists have reached their strongest levels since 2001, and former U.S. ambassador to Afghanistan Ryan Crocker said Sunday the group is succeeding "wonderfully" in their long march to taking control of the country. Crocker said the situation in Afghanistan has reached crisis levels and that blame falls squarely on the Biden administration for withdrawing from the country.
"He owns it," Crocker said of Biden. "I think it is already an indelible stain on his presidency."