Afghanistan government forces are planning a counteroffensive in the country’s northern provinces after losing ground to the Taliban, Russia’s RIA news agency has cited an adviser to Afghan President Ashraf Ghani as saying.
National security adviser Hamdullah Mohib told RIA in an interview on Monday that government forces had not expected the Taliban offensive but would “absolutely, definitely” counterattack.
The Taliban’s march through northern Afghanistan gained momentum overnight with the capture of several districts from fleeing Afghan forces, several hundred of whom fled across the border into neighboring Tajikistan, officials said.
On Monday, Tajikistan’s national security committee said 1,037 Afghan government troops had fled into the ex-Soviet country “in order to save their lives” after clashes with the Taliban during the night.
“Taking into account the principle of good neighborliness and adhering to the position of non-interference in the internal affairs of Afghanistan, the military personnel of the Afghan government forces were allowed to enter Tajik territory,” the committee said in a statement distributed by Tajikistan’s state information agency Khovar.
It said the Taliban has taken “full control” of six districts of the Badakhshan province bordering Tajikistan in Afghanistan’s northeast.
The Taliban now control roughly a third of all 421 districts and district centers in Afghanistan.
Source: Agencies
