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Taliban battle into west Afghan city in new crisis for government
Could be one of the regional consequences of Trump tearing up the Iran nuclear deal. Iranian influence in Farah has always been strong.
5/15/18
HERAT, Afghanistan (Reuters) - Taliban fighters with heavy weapons and night-vision equipment fought their way close to the center of the western city of Farah on Tuesday, as Afghan government forces backed by U.S. air strikes battled to keep control, officials and residents said. Residents of the city, capital of Farah province on the border with Iran, have warned for months the city was vulnerable and the attack threatened a repeat of the Taliban’s capture of the northern city of Kunduz, which fell briefly in 2015. “The Taliban are moving very fast, if the government does not take serious and speedy action, the province is going to collapse to Taliban,” said Hamidullah, a resident of the city reached by telephone. Residents said Taliban forces began their attack at around 2.00 a.m. (2130 GMT Monday) from several directions. The fighting adds to the growing number of crisis points around Afghanistan since the Taliban began their annual spring offensive last month, including a series of deadly suicide attacks in the capital, Kabul. Although the insurgents have been unable to take and hold any provincial center, they are active across Afghanistan and the government has firm control over no more than 56 percent of the country, according to U.S. estimates.
Farah, a remote and sparsely populated province on the border with Iran, has seen months of heavy fighting, with hundreds of police and soldiers killed and severe losses inflicted even on elite special forces units. Farah residents have said Taliban forces were being supported by Iran. The governor of the province stepped down in January, denouncing worsening security and what he said was political interference and corruption. The province, which also borders the opium-rich Taliban heartland of Helmand province, has key smuggling routes into Iran. Hundreds of fighters have moved there as U.S. and Afghan forces have stepped up operations in Helmand. As the fighting raged on Tuesday, Taliban spokesman Qari Yousuf Ahmadi warned civilians to remain in their houses. “Mujahideen have nothing to do with civilians, only military positions are the target,” he said in a statement, referring to Taliban fighters. Residents said shops, schools and government offices were closed and the Taliban had set up posts around the city and were checking identity cards and preventing people from fleeing.
Could be one of the regional consequences of Trump tearing up the Iran nuclear deal. Iranian influence in Farah has always been strong.