Plumes of smoke billowed over a provincial Afghan capital yesterday as fighting raged between government forces and Taleban rebels for a second day.
The government also flew hundreds of commandos into Qala-i-Naw in the northwestern province of Badghis, the first provincial capital to face an all-out assault by the Taleban since the United States stepped up its troop withdrawal.
With the US pullout about 90-percent complete, the Islamic insurgents have launched a blistering campaign to capture territory, and fears are mounting that Afghan forces will be stretched without American air support.
“The Taleban have resumed their attacks from several directions with light and heavy weapons,” Badghis governor Hessamuddin Shams said yesterday.
But “our security forces are fighting bravely fighting and the enemy is being pushed back,” he added.
Taleban fighters had seized the city’s police headquarters on Wednesday, but they were later ousted. Defense ministry spokesman Fawad Aman said commandos flown to the city had launched a “large-scale operation.”
Despite claims of the rebels running away, resident Aziz Tawakoli said Taleban fighters remained. “You can see them going up and down streets on motorcycles,” he said.
Tawakoli also said many of the city’s 75,000 people had fled, and planes had struck Taleban targets through the night.
Badghis provincial council member Zia Gul Habibi said the Taleban had suffered casualties, but the rebels still surrounded the city. “People are really in fear,” she said. The attack on Qala-i-Naw came with the Taleban carrying out a blistering campaign across the country but mostly in the north, capturing dozens of districts since May.
Patricia Gossman of Human Rights Watch said insurgents were forcing people from their houses in northern areas, and “retaliatory attacks against civilians deemed to have supported the government are an ominous warning about the risk of future atrocities.
“The Taleban leadership has the power to stop these abuses by their forces but haven’t shown that they are willing to do so.”
