Afghanistan President Ghani Arrives In Balkh: Taliban Violence

Afghanistan President Ghani arrives in Balkh amid increased violence in the northern province, will hold a meeting with security officials.

Afghanistan President Ashraf Ghani arrived in the city of Mazar-e-Sharif in northern Balkh province on Wednesday. Taliban violence is at its peak in the country’s northern province.

Ghani’s adviser on security and political affairs, Mohammad Mohaqiq, is also accompanying him on the visit.

According to the Afghan News Agency, a security meeting will be held in Mazar-e-Sharif. The Governor of Balkh and security officials of the province will also attend this meeting.

Quoting sources, Tolo News told, ‘In this meeting, there will be talk about cooperation between the defense and armed forces.

Balkh Governor Mohammad Farhad Azimi reported that Afghan National Security and Defense Forces (ANDSF) repelled the Taliban marching towards Mazar-e-Sharif and recaptured Nahar-e-Shahi district .’

Mazar-e-Sharif is a major city in Afghanistan and it is feared that it may soon come under Taliban control. The city has been surrounded by Taliban terrorists from all sides and a fierce battle is going on.

Meanwhile, the Taliban captured Pul-e-Khumri, the capital of another state, Baghlan, on Tuesday evening. It is the seventh state that the Taliban has ruled.

In this way, the Taliban has tightened its hold on 65 percent of the country so far. However, Afghan security forces claimed that they thwarted the attack on Mazar-e-Sharif by killing 80 Taliban fighters.

Meanwhile, President Ashraf Ghani has sought help from the local militia to defend Kabul.

After capturing the city of Aibak in northern Afghanistan, the Taliban are trying their best to capture Mazar-e-Sharif, which borders Tajikistan.

While Reuters said that the Taliban had captured Pul-e-Khumri, the NNI quoted Tolo News as saying that the city of Farah, the capital of Farah province, was captured.

With this, the Taliban have waged a final battle for the capture of Faizabad in Badakhshan province.

Fierce fighting has been going on in Lashkar Gah, Herat, and Kandahar city for the last several days. Here, according to IANS, the US is increasing pressure on the Taliban to stop the attack.