US Intelligence Says Taliban Could Take Kabul In 90 days

A new US intelligence assessment says Afghanistan’s capital could fall within 90 days after the Taliban armed group took more than a quarter of the country’s provincial capitals in less than a week.

The group has captured nine provincial capitals in Afghanistan since Friday, including Faizabad, Farah, Pul-e-Khumri, Sar-e-Pul, Sheberghan, Aybak, Kunduz, Taluqan and Zaranj.

The Taliban has already gained vast parts of rural Afghanistan since launching a series of offensives in May to coincide with the start of the final withdrawal of foreign forces.

Here are the latest developments:

Turkey still keen to run Kabul airport despite Taliban advances, officials say

Turkey is for now still intent on running and guarding Kabul airport after other foreign troops withdraw from Afghanistan, but is monitoring the situation after rapid advances by Taliban forces, two Turkish officials said.

The Taliban have warned Turkey against keeping troops in Afghanistan to guard the airport but Ankara has maintained its stance.

Pakistan ‘engaging all stakeholders’ – foreign minister

Pakistan’s foreign minister on Wednesday told reporters that his country will continue to play its role to facilitate the Afghan peace process as the Taliban gains more ground in Afghanistan.

“Our delegation is in Doha right now,” Shah Mahmood Qureshi said, referring to ongoing peace talks hosted by Qatar.

Qureshi said Pakistani officials there are “engaging with all stakeholders for the promotion of peace and stability in Afghanistan”.

Germany, Netherlands suspend deportations to Afghanistan

Germany and the Netherlands have suspended any deportations of people to Afghanistan as the security situation in the war-torn country worsens.

German Interior Minister Horst Seehofer ordered the suspension “for the time being,” spokesman Steve Alter said Wednesday. Earlier, Alter said that almost 30,000 Afghans in Germany are currently required to leave the country.

In the Netherlands, Justice State Secretary Ankie Broekers-Knol wrote to parliament that changes in Afghanistan were so unpredictable “that a decision was taken to impose a departure moratorium.”

She said the decision was justified by “the worsening situation and the possibility to wait for a decision until there is a more stable assessment of the situation”.

Taliban could take Kabul in 90 days: US intelligence

Taliban fighters could isolate Afghanistan’s capital in 30 days and possibly take it over in 90, a US defence official tells the Reuters news agency, citing US intelligence.

The official, speaking on condition of anonymity, says that the new assessment of how long Kabul could stand is a result of the rapid gains the Taliban had been making around the country as US-led foreign forces leave.

“But this is not a foregone conclusion,” the official adds, saying that the Afghan security forces could reverse the momentum by putting up more resistance.

Afghanistan sees shake up in military leadership

Officials in Afghanistan have confirmed several shake-ups in the top military leadership of the country, Al Jazeera’s Ali M Latifi reports from Kabul.

General Haibatullah Alizai has been named the chief of staff of the army, replacing General Wali Ahmadzai who had been in the position a few months.

Additionally, Sami Sadat has been named the commander for the special operations corps.

Sadat had previously taken the lead in the fight to defend Helmand.

#SanctionPakistan trending as violence rages in Afghanistan

As violence from a Taliban offensive on government-held areas surges in Afghanistan, the use of the Twitter hashtag #SanctionPakistan by thousands has shown the antipathy many Afghans hold for the perceived role of the country’s eastern neighbour.

As of Wednesday, the hashtag had been used more than 730,000 times, with at least 37 percent of those tweets tagged as originating in Afghanistan, according to data from the social media insight company, Talkwalker.

At least 47 casualties in Kandahar as fighting intensifies

At least 47 casualties, including a woman, children and police, are brought to the Mirwais regional hospital in Kandahar as fighting in the city intensifies, Al Jazeera’s Ali M Latifi reports from Kabul.

The figures provided by the hospital did not break down the number of dead or injured.

Residents in Afghanistan’s second-largest city say that fighting has moved closer to the hospital itself, which is in the centre of the city as the Taliban continue to try to take control of the city centre.

Germany says deporting Afghan asylum seekers still possible

Germany still believes it should be possible to deport Afghan asylum seekers despite significant advances of Taliban fighters in their country, an interior ministry spokesperson says, adding cases are handled on individual merit.

Speaking at a regular German government briefing, a foreign ministry spokesperson notes that the situation in Afghanistan is changing very quickly.

The comments come after six European Union member states – including Germany – warn the bloc’s executive on Tuesday against halting deportations of rejected Afghan asylum seekers arriving in Europe.

Afghanistan’s leaders must ‘fight for themselves, nation’: Biden

US President Joe Biden has urged Afghanistan’s leaders to fight for their homeland as the Taliban armed group tightens its grip on the country’s territory.

“Afghan leaders have to come together,” Biden tells reporters at the White House, adding the Afghan troops outnumber the Taliban and must want to fight.