Provincial Governor Abdul Qane expressed confidence in the city’s defence and averred that the Taliban were suffering heavy casualties on account of ANDSF airstrikes.

Former mujahideen leader Ismail Khan, who is leading militia forces supporting the ANDSF, called on Herat residents to mobilize themselves against the Taliban and save themselves from ‘forces of ignorance’.

US airstrike kills seven Taliban militants

Clashes also continued in Lashkar Gah and Kandahar cities. A US airstrike near Lashkar Gah killed seven Taliban militants. Separately, the Defense Ministry stated that 455 Taliban militants were killed and 232 wounded over the past 24 hours. The Taliban rejected the claim. Meanwhile, in a Taliban attack near the capital of Parwan Province, Charikar city, four ANDSF personnel were killed.

Read what President Ashraf Ghani says

President Ashraf Ghani, addressing a joint session of Parliament, in an apparent reference to the release of 5,000 Taliban prisoners in 2020, stated that the Afghan people had paid a high price for peace efforts but still faced war. Ghani criticised the ‘imported and hasty’ peace process which had only succeeded in legitimising an insurgent group.

The US, UK accuse Taliban 

The US and UK Embassies in Kabul, in separate tweets accused the Taliban of massacring civilians during the outfit’s recent takeover of Spin Boldak District of Kandahar Province, calling for the Taliban militants and commanders responsible for these crimes to be held accountable, and highlighting that if the Taliban could not control its fighters now, then the outfit had ‘no business’ in governance later.

Separately, Justice Minister Fazel Ahmad Manawi accused the Taliban of war crimes, including torture and executions. Manawi called for Taliban crimes against humanity to be ‘assessed’ at national and international levels.

'Taliban military takeover would lead to international isolation'

EU Special Envoy for Afghanistan Tomas Niklasson reiterated that a Taliban military takeover would lead to international isolation for the regime. Citing the wide gap between Taliban words and actions in the peace process,  Niklasson underscored that he saw no ‘fundamental change’ in the outfit’s attitude.