File of Afghanistan's second biggest city of Kandahar, which was captured by Taliban

Record ID: 1631972

  • Title: File of Afghanistan's second biggest city of Kandahar, which was captured by Taliban
  • Date: 13th August 2021
  • Summary: KANDAHAR, AFGHANISTAN (FILE - MAY 2021) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF PEOPLE CROSSING THE STREET AND TRAFFIC MOSQUE AND GOVERNMENT BUILDINGS AT DOWNTOWN GOVERNMENT BUILDING AND AN OLD ARTILLERY OLD ARTILLERY AND PLANTS
  • Embargoed: 27th August 2021 08:23
  • Keywords: Afghan forces Afghanistan Kandahar Taliban U.S. conflict fighting withdrawal
  • Location: KANDAHAR, AFGHANISTAN
  • City: KANDAHAR, AFGHANISTAN
  • Country: Afghanistan
  • Topics: Asia / Pacific,Conflicts/War/Peace,Insurgencies
  • Reuters ID: LVA001EQ432O7
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text: The Taliban have captured Afghanistan's second and third biggest cities, officials said on Friday (August 13), fuelling fears the U.S.-backed government could fall to the insurgents as international forces complete their withdrawal after 20 years of war.
    The capture of the second-biggest city of Kandahar in the south and Herat in the west after days of clashes are a devastating setback for the government as the deadly Taliban insurgency turns into a rout of the security forces.
    Kandahar will be a particularly heavy blow to the government. It is the heartland of the Taliban, ethnic Pashtun fighters who emerged in the province in 1994 amid the chaos of civil war.
    Of Afghanistan's major cities, the government still holds Mazar-i-Sharif in the north and Jalalabad, near the Pakistani border in the east, as well as Kabul. But a U.S. defense official cited U.S. intelligence as saying this week that the Taliban could isolate Kabul in 30 days and possibly take it within 90.
    The militants, fighting to defeat the government and impose their strict version of Islamic rule, have taken control of 14 of Afghanistan's 34 provincial capitals since Aug. 6.
  • Copyright Holder: FILE REUTERS (CAN SELL)
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