Afghanistan’s President Ashraf Ghani seems to be taking the heat as Taliban took over Mazar-e-Sharif, heading for Kabul. Sources informed CNN-News18 that he may be looking for a political truce within a couple of days.
“Ghani is under tremendous pressure. Political settlement will happen in next 24-48 hours,” said sources close to Afghan government.
Meanwhile, there are 5,000 troops in Afghanistan. “America clearly told Taliban not to attack Kabul,” added the highly placed sources.
This seems to have been a soft coup against the elected government.
“Taliban is still the same and nothing changed and working under Pakistan directions,” said Afghan officials, who did not want to be named.
Even as the fighting surges, Taliban are hopeful of a peaceful takeover.
The next 24 hours are crucial for the Ghani government as all field Corps of Afghan government except Special Forces and Air Force Corps of Kabul have surrendered before Taliban.
The authority to rule will be given to the governing council within a week. All Taliban prisoners will soon be released from Bagram, Pul-e-Charkhi and other jails.
There are reports that Ghani will be taken to USA. CNN-News18 has already reported that shadow governors of Taliban will be appointed in all provinces.
Mazar-e-Sharif, the fourth-largest city in Afghanistan, fell to the Taliban on Saturday after a multipronged assault launched by insurgents.
Earlier, Ghani held urgent talks with local leaders and international partners as Taliban rebels pushed closer to Kabul, capturing a town south of the capital.
The United States and Britain rushed in troops to help evacuate their embassies after the militants captured town after town as US and other foreign forces that have backed the government withdrew.
Many Afghans have fled from the provinces to the capital, driven out by fighting and fearful of a return to hardline Islamist rule, as resistance from Afghan government forces crumbles.
An Afghan government official confirmed on Friday that Kandahar, the biggest city in the south and the heartland of the Taliban, was under the militants’ control as US-led forces complete their withdrawal after 20 years of war.
The US-led invasion, which ousted the Taliban from power, was launched after the September 11 attacks on the United States in 2001.
Hospitals were struggling to cope with the numbers of people wounded in the fighting, with 17,000 treated in July and the first week of August in facilities supported by the International Committee of the Red Cross, the aid agency said.
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