Taliban see battlefield dominance as path to political, diplomatic power
Issued on:
16/07/2021 - 04:00
Afghan flags fluttering on masts in Kabul, where the government is struggling to counter the Taliban's latest sweeping military offensive SAJJAD HUSSAIN AFP
4 min
Kabul (AFP)
With US forces largely gone from the battlefield, the Taliban have conducted a staggering, land-grabbing offensive that appears aimed at forcing the Afghan government to sue for peace on the insurgents' terms or suffer complete military defeat.
The scale and speed of the Taliban's campaign, and the inability of government forces to stem its progress, has swept aside any hopes that on-again-off again peace talks would produce a power-sharing framework ahead of the US military's final withdrawal at the end of August.