Kandahar

Taliban overrun Herat City, Qala-i-Naw

The Taliban continues its blitzkrieg assault across Afghanistan, overrunning two additional provincial capitals today, including Herat City, one of the largest in Afghansitan. The Taliban took full control...

Kandahar City falls to the Taliban

The Taliban continues to wrack up a string of major victories today. Kandahar City, the country’s second largest city, collapsed after Taliban forces besieged it for more than two months. It is the third...

Farah City, Pul-i-Khumri fall to the Taliban

The Taliban’s all-out assault in northern and western Afghanistan resulted Tuesday in control of two additional provincial capitals in Farah and Baghdad provinces. That marks eight provincial capitals...

Biden Administration Foreign Policy Tracker: Early August

Fifth northern Afghan capital falls to the Taliban

The Taliban took control of another capital in the strategic Afghan north today as Afghan security forces and government officials fled Aybak in Samangan province. Aybak is the fifth northern capital to...

Taliban takes control of Afghan provincial capitals of Kunduz, Sar-i-Pul and Taloqan

The Taliban took control of the provincial capitals of Taloqan and Kunduz and Sar-i-Pul cities, the third, fourth, and fifth capitals to fall to the Taliban over the past three days. The Taliban continues...

Taliban takes second provincial capital

The Taliban took control of its second provincial capital today. Shibirghan, the capital of the northern province of Jawzjan and the home of warlord Marshall Abdul Rashid Dostum, fell to the Taliban. Dostum...

Taliban takes full control of Nimruz province, seizes capital

The Taliban took control of Zaranj, the capital of Nimruz province, without a fight. The western locale is the first provincial capital to fall under Taliban control since it launched its offensive across...

Taliban, Afghan forces battle for control of Helmand’s capital

After days of heavy fighting with Afghan security forces, the Taliban has entered Laskhar Gah, the capital of Helmand province. The city is in danger of falling to the Taliban. The Taliban is now battling...

Taliban battles Afghan military for control of Kandahar City

View Map Here After taking control of several key districts surrounding Kandahar City over the past two months, the Taliban has launched its offensive on the provincial capital. Kandahar City is now under...

Nearly half of Afghanistan’s provincial capitals under threat from Taliban

With rapid gains in recent days, the Taliban now threatens 16 of Afghanistan’s 34 provincial capitals, while 18 of the provinces in their entirety are under direct threat of falling under Taliban control,...

Taliban advances as U.S. completes withdrawal

The Taliban has made dramatic gains since President Joe Biden announced the U.S. would leave Afghanistan by Sept. 11, 2021. The time lapse map, which is dated from April 13 to today and was created by FDD’s...

Afghanistan at risk of collapse as Taliban storms the north

Afghanistan is at risk of complete collapse after the Taliban has made dramatic gains in recent days, striking at the heart of the Afghan government’s base of power in the north while seizing control...

Help The Afghan Air Force To Blunt Taliban Attacks

At the NATO Summit in Brussels, the United States should finalize a plan with its allies to ensure the Afghan air force has the maintenance and logistical support it requires to remain combat effective. The...

Analysis: Predicting the coming Taliban offensive

As the U.S. withdraws from Afghanistan after two decades, the Taliban is doubling down on its efforts to retake the country by force of arms to restore its Islamic Emirate. The question isn’t whether...

The Taliban and Al-Qaeda Are Closing In on Afghanistan’s Provincial Capitals

Plus, the Biden administration designates Iranian-backed Houthi leaders as terrorists.

Taliban has ‘surrounded’ five Afghan provincial capitals

The Taliban has “surrounded” five provincial capitals in Afghanistan as of Feb. 2021, according to the Lead Inspector General for Operation Freedom’s Sentinel. FDD’s Long War Journal has assessed...

Taliban control in Afghanistan expands significantly since 2018

The number of Afghan districts controlled and contested by the Taliban has nearly doubled since early 2018, according to an ongoing study of the security situation by FDD’s Long War Journal. The expansion...

Taliban overruns district in central Afghanistan

The Taliban overran yet another district, this time in Wardak province in central Afghanistan near the capital of Kabul. The Taliban attacked the Nerkh district center despite the fact that the group has...

Taliban takes control of two districts in Afghan north

The Taliban seized control of two districts in the northern province of Baghlan over the past two days. The move presages a coming Taliban offensive, which the goal is to reestablish its Islamic Emirate...