Afghan govt to arm, train civilians against Taliban amid rising violence

Kabul [Afghanistan], June 24 : Amid rising violence in Afghanistan, government officials have said that they would arm and train civilians who are willing to fight the Taliban.
Naqibullah Fayeq, the newly-appointed deputy interior minister, on Wednesday said that Kabul would support public mobilization against Taliban "in every province", reported Afghanistan Times.
"Taliban will be suppressed. There is an extraordinary support from security officials to people," he told army and police in Mazar-e-Sharif.
Fayeq assured that the government would provide weapons, foodstuff, vehicles and other equipment for those who want to defend their soil and homeland, not only in Balkh province, but in every other area. He also assured that Taliban could "never enter the cities", promising that government forces would retake the districts which fell to the insurgents.
"Why should we believe that Taliban are powerful?" Fayeq said, adding that the militants' recent war was more propaganda while they themselves do not trust they have taken many areas.
Taliban fighters have recently taken control of a number of districts in Balkh province and even reached the Mazar-e-Sharif entrance last week for a few hours before being driven away by security forces, reported Afghanistan Times.
Fifty out of Afghanistan's 370 districts have fallen to Taliban terrorists since May, informed the United Nations' special envoy on Afghanistan Deborah Lyons on Tuesday, as the United States continues its military withdrawal from the country.
"The Taliban recent advances are even more significant and are as a result of an intensified military campaign; more than 50 of Afghanistan's 370 districts have fallen since the beginning of May," Lyons told the UN Security Council (UNSC), reported CNN.
This comes in the middle of a surge in violence as the Taliban has increased its activities since the start of the US-led forces pull out on May 1.
Taliban fighters had earlier taken control of several districts in Kunduz province and the important border crossing with Tajikistan, according to Rabani Rabani, a member of the Kunduz provincial council.
A local power company in Afghanistan also informed on Tuesday that violent clashes had damaged key electrical infrastructure, causing power outages in 11 provinces including Kabul.
In April, US President Joe Biden formally announced his decision to end America's 'forever war', deeming the prolonged and intractable conflict in Afghanistan no longer in alignment with American priorities.
Biden said he would withdraw US troops from Afghanistan before September 11, the 20th anniversary of the terrorist attacks in the US.
Afghan President Ashraf Ghani and chairman of Afghanistan's High Council for National Reconciliation Abdullah Abdullah are set to visit the United States soon to meet US President Joe Biden.