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2021 Taliban offensive

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2021 Taliban offensive
Part of the Afghanistan War and Taliban insurgency


Top: Territorial map of Afghanistan on 1 May

Bottom: Current territorial map of Afghanistan
Date1 May 2021 – present
(3 years, 6 months, 2 weeks and 6 days)
Location
Afghanistan
Status Ongoing
Territorial
changes		 Taliban captures 131 districts[3]
Belligerents
Afghanistan Taliban  Afghanistan
 United States[1][2]
Resolute Support Mission
Commanders and leaders
Afghanistan Hibatullah Akhundzada
Afghanistan Abdul Ghani Baradar		 Afghanistan Ashraf Ghani
United States Joe Biden
Casualties and losses
Afghanistan 4,615 killed[4] (Afghan Government claim) Afghanistan 1,269 Afghan security forces killed[5][6][7]
Afghanistan 1,500 Afghan soldiers deserted[8]
492 civilians killed[5][6][7]

The 2021 Afghanistan offensive is an ongoing military offensive led by the Taliban against the government of Afghanistan and its allies that is simultaneous with the withdrawal of US troops from Afghanistan.

As of 9 July 2021, the Taliban has seized 131 districts from the Afghan government.[9]

Background

During the Afghan Civil War of 1996–2001, resistance to the Taliban was strongest in northern Afghanistan, the base of the Northern Alliance. According to the Afghanistan Analysts Network, the Taliban's concentration of its forces in the north in 2021 may be an attempt to forestall the creation of a second Northern Alliance after the withdrawal of U.S. forces.[10]

Timeline

May

In the month of May, Taliban captured 15 districts from the Afghan Government, including Nirkh and Jalrez districts in Maidan Wardak Province.[11][12][13][14] Among the locations captured was the Dahla Dam in Kandahar Province, Afghanistan's second largest dam.[15]

During the month, 405 Afghan National Security Forces and 260 civilians were killed during the clashes with the Taliban, while the Afghan Ministry of Defense claimed killing 2,146 Taliban fighters.[5][4]

June

In the month of June, Taliban captured 69 districts from the Afghan Government and entered the cities of Kunduz and Puli Khumri.[16][17][18][19] Meanwhile the city of Mazar-i-Sharif was besieged by Taliban.[20]Among the locations captured by Taliban was Afghanistan’s main border crossing with Tajikistan and the Saydabad District in Maidan Wardak Province, which is called the gateway of Afghanistan’s capital city Kabul.[21][22]

In terms of equipment the Taliban captured 700 trucks and Humvees from the Afghan security forces as well as dozens of armored vehicles and artillery systems.[23]

On 19 June, Afghan Army chief of staff, defense and interior ministers were replaced by President Ashraf Ghani.[24]

During the month, 703 Afghan National Security Forces and 208 civilians were killed during the clashes with the Taliban, while the Afghan Ministry of Defense claimed killing 1,535 Taliban fighters.[6][4]

July

As of 9 July, Taliban captured 47 districts from the Afghan Government and entered the second largest city of Afghanistan, Kandahar.[3][25][26]

As of 8 July, 161 Afghan National Security Forces and 24 civilians were killed during the clashes with the Taliban, while the Afghan Ministry of Defense claimed killing 1,163 Taliban fighters since the start of the month.[6][4] While 1,500 Afghan soldiers deserted into Tajikistan.[8]

On 9 July 2021, a Taliban spokesman from Moscow, Russia, said that the group "was in control of 85% of the territory of Afghanistan" and pointed that it "was not part of the agreement" with the US not to attack Afghan administrative centers. Russian authorities also reported working with the group to secure the safety of neighboring Tajikistan from any foreign threat. On the other side, the Afghan government has vowed to retake all districts seized by the Taliban.[27]

Reactions

  •  United States: US President Joe Biden defended the withdrawal of US troops saying that the country had not gone to Afghanistan to "nation build". Biden added that he would not "send another generation of Americans to fight there" and pointed to other failed attempts at unifying Afghanistan in the past. He also reassured that the US safety was not at risk with any outcome of the infighting in Afghanistan.[29][30]

See also

References

  1. ^ Seldin, Jeff (5 May 2021). "US Airstrikes Target Taliban as Fighting Intensifies". Voice of America. Retrieved 9 July 2021.
  2. ^ "US air force targets Taliban position in northern Afghanistan, media reports". Afghanistan Times. 26 June 2021. Retrieved 9 July 2021.
  3. ^ a b Roggio, Bill (9 July 2021). "Taliban squeezes Afghan government by seizing key border towns". FDD's Long War Journal. Retrieved 9 July 2021.
  4. ^ a b c d "Press Release". Afghan Ministry of Defense. Afghan Ministry of Defense. Retrieved 9 July 2021.
  5. ^ a b c Faizi, Fatima; Abed, Fahim; Rahim, Najim (3 June 2021). "Afghan War Casualty Report: May 2021". The New York Times. Retrieved 9 July 2021.
  6. ^ a b c d Faizi, Fatima; Rahim, Najim (1 July 2021). "Afghan War Casualty Report: June 2021". The New York Times. Retrieved 9 July 2021.
  7. ^ a b Faizi, Fatima; Timory, Asadullah (8 July 2021). "Afghan War Casualty Report: July 2021". The New York Times. Retrieved 9 July 2021.
  8. ^ a b "Some 1,500 Afghan soldiers crossed into Tajikistan over past 2 weeks - Tajik rep to CSTO". Interfax. 7 July 2021. Retrieved 9 July 2021.
  9. ^ De Luce, Dan; Yusufzai, Mushtaq; Smith, Saphora (25 June 2021). "Even the Taliban are surprised at how fast they're advancing in Afghanistan". NBC News. Retrieved 8 July 2021.
  10. ^ "A Quarter of Afghanistan's Districts Fall to the Taleban amid Calls for a 'Second Resistance'". Afghanistan Analysts Network. 2021-07-01. Retrieved 2021-07-10.
  11. ^ Roggio, Bill (29 June 2021). "Taliban doubles number of controlled Afghan districts since May 1". FDD's Long War Journal. Retrieved 9 July 2021.
  12. ^ Roggio, Bill (3 June 2021). "UN report on Taliban controlled and contested districts tracks with LWJ data". FDD's Long War Journal. Retrieved 9 July 2021.
  13. ^ "Taliban seize key district outside Afghan capital". France24. 12 May 2021. Retrieved 9 July 2021.
  14. ^ "Taliban capture more districts, surround Kabul". Global Village Space. 22 May 2021. Retrieved 9 July 2021.
  15. ^ "Taliban captures key Afghan dam as fighting rages". Al Jazeera English. 6 May 2021. Retrieved 9 July 2021.
  16. ^ Roggio, Bill (29 June 2021). "Taliban doubles number of controlled Afghan districts since May 1". FDD's Long War Journal. Retrieved 9 July 2021.
  17. ^ Gibbons-Neff, Thomas; Rahim, Najim (8 July 2021). "Taliban Enter Key Cities in Afghanistan's North After Swift Offensive". The New York Times. Retrieved 9 July 2021.
  18. ^ "Baghlan: PD2 of Pul-e-Khumri Held by Taliban, City Under Siege". Tolo News. 24 June 2021. Retrieved 9 July 2021.
  19. ^ Robertson, Nic (24 June 2021). "Afghanistan is disintegrating fast as Biden's troop withdrawal continues". CNN. Retrieved 9 July 2021.
  20. ^ Najafizada, Eltaf (22 June 2021). "Taliban Besiege Key Afghan City With U.S. Troops Set to Exit". Bloomberg. Retrieved 9 July 2021.
  21. ^ "Taliban captures Afghanistan's main Tajikistan border crossing". Al Jazeera English. 22 June 2021. Retrieved 9 July 2021.
  22. ^ Yusufzai, Mushtaq (27 June 2021). "Afghan Taliban capture another important district". The News Pakistan. Retrieved 9 July 2021.
  23. ^ Roblin, Sebastien (30 June 2021). "One Month, 700 Trucks: Afghanistan's U.S. Military Vehicles Fall Into Taliban Hands". Forbes. Retrieved 9 July 2021.
  24. ^ "Afghan president replaces two top ministers, army chief as violence grows". Reuters. 20 June 2021. Retrieved 9 July 2021.
  25. ^ Roggie, Bill. "Afghanistan at risk of collapse as Taliban storms the north". FDD's Long War Journal. Retrieved 8 July 2021.
  26. ^ Nossiter, Adam (9 July 2021). "Taliban Enter Kandahar City and Seize Border Posts". The New York Times. Retrieved 10 July 2021.
  27. ^ "Taliban says it controls '85 percent' of Afghan territory, made no ceasefire promise to US". France24. 9 July 2021. Retrieved 9 July 2021.
  28. ^ "Iran and Russia move to fill diplomatic vacuum in Afghanistan". the Guardian. 2021-07-09. Retrieved 2021-07-09.
  29. ^ Liptak, Kevin (8 July 2021). "Biden defends pulling US out of Afghanistan as Taliban advances: 'We did not go to Afghanistan to nation-build'". CNN. Retrieved 9 July 2021.
  30. ^ Khan, Wajahat (9 July 2021). "Biden defends Afghanistan pullout as Taliban gain ground". Nikkei Asia. Retrieved 9 July 2021.
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