![](https://www.longwarjournal.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/Taliban-Deh-Yak-looting.png)
Taliban fighters loot district center in Ghazni
In what has become an all too familiar scene in Afghanistan, Taliban fighters celebrated their victory and looted a district center in broad daylight, without fear of reprisal.
In what has become an all too familiar scene in Afghanistan, Taliban fighters celebrated their victory and looted a district center in broad daylight, without fear of reprisal.
The Taliban occupied a police station in Ghazni City and looted the facility even as Resolute Support claimed the entire city was under Afghan government control.
The Taliban never slowed in launching numerous attacks across the country even as it committed significant resources to the fight in Ghazni.
Forty-three soldiers were killed and 17 more were captured in the fighting that led up to the surrender. The Taliban is routinely outmatching Afghan forces in battles in remote districts.
Meanwhile, Resolute Support continues its claim Ghazni City is under Afghan control and uses Taliban body counts as a measure of success.
The current fighting in and around Ghazni City indicates that the Taliban has a detailed plan to tie up Afghan forces while attempting to seize the provincial capital. Additionally, the Taliban was able to mass its forces undetected; the Afghan military was clearly caught off guard and is struggling to get into the fight four days after the Taliban launched its attack.
Between 40 and 100 Afghan Army Commandos are reported to have been killed as the Taliban overran Ajristan district in Ghazni province. As the Taliban overran Ajristan, battled for control of Ghazni City, and cut off the Kabul-Kandahar highway, it has demonstrated that it is able to effectively hit multiple locations at the same time.
Resolute Support initially described the attack on Ghazni City as a “failed attempt” that would be used by the press to generate sensational headlines. Two days later, Afghan forces are still battling entrenched Taliban fighters inside the city, and the vital Kabul-Kandahar remains severed. Battles such as the one in Ghazni, reveal a disturbing pattern of misinformation and deception by Resolute Support when it comes to assessing and reporting on the Taliban’s attacks on major cities as well as its assaults on district centers.
Both the Afghan government (and Resolute Support) and the Taliban claim they control the city. The Afghan government and Resolute Support have proven unreliable in the past when it denied that the Taliban twice took control of Kunduz City, as well as Farah City earlier this year.
The raids in Helmand and Nangarhar indicate that al Qaeda’s leaders are not focused on its survival. Al Mesri was focused on manufacturing IEDs to support the Taliban’s insurgency in Helmand, while Rahmatullah and his cohorts were operating in Nangarhar’s provincial capital.
The Taliban remains active in Parwan, where it contested five of the provinces 10 districts. One American and two Afghan soldiers were also wounded in the suicide attack.
The complex Taliban operation that was designed to eject the Islamic State from Jawzjan highlights the Taliban’s ability to coordinate and mass for attacks in the Afghan north. However it is unlikely that the Islamic State has been “completely defeated” in the north.
The NDS unit that was hit is reportedly responsible for targeting Taliban units that operate in the contested provinces of Logar and Wardak, just south of Kabul.
The Taliban takeover of the Paktika districts of Omna and Gayan occur as US generals attempt to put a positive spin on the Afghan military’s capabilities.
An estimated 150 Afghan security personnel (soldiers, policemen, and militia fighters) have been killed in major Taliban attacks over the past two weeks.
The press release also described the Taliban who are being targeted and killed as “Taliban irreconcilables.” However, Resolute Support has yet to identify any reconcilable Taliban.
The Taliban has been operating prisons in Helmand for at least three years. Raids on Taliban prisons has done nothing to keep the group from expanding its control in Helmand.
The Red Unit, the Taliban’s version of special forces that operates throughout Afghanistan and is often at the tip of the spear of assaults on district centers, military bases and outposts, is said to have initiated the fighting in Dasht-i-Archi district. At least 30 Afghan soldiers were killed during the assault.
The deadly bombing is the first major attack executed by the Taliban group since Mufti Noor Wali Mehsud assumed command of the group in late June.
The Taliban reiterated that it views itself as the sole representative of the Afghan people, while those who fight for the Afghan government are “puppets” of the United States.
The Taliban described an upcoming conference of religious scholars that will be held in Saudi Arabia later this week as illegitimate and urged Islamic clerics to boycott the meeting.
The Pentagon and the US intelligence community have been consistently wrong about al Qaeda’s strength in Afghanistan, and evidence of strategic ties between the two groups does indeed exist.
The Taliban continues to state that it and only it is the true representative of the Afghan people. This is at odds with the opinion of some Afghan analysts who advise the US government on policy with respect to a negotiated settlement with the Taliban.
The Afghan government is maintaining its unilateral ceasefire despite the current Taliban offensive.
The TTP appears to be returning to its roots by selecting Mufti Noor Wali Mehsud, a prominent commander from the Mehsud tribe, to lead it. The TTP also confirmed the death of Mullah Fazlullah.
An Afghan official claimed the Taliban used the ceasefire to scout the bases and launch its attack.
The Afghan Ministry of Defense claims Mullah Fazlullah was killed in a US airstrike in Kunar on June 13. His death has not been confirmed by the US or the Movement of the Taliban in Pakistan. Fazlullah’s death, if confirmed, may not be as impactful as US, Pakistani, and Afghan officials would like to believe.
Yet again, the Taliban stated that it will only negotiate after US and NATO forces withdraw from Afghanistan, and that everyone must accept the “ground realities,” meaning that the Taliban will rule the country.
The move by the Taliban directly contradicts the top US and NATO general in Afghanistan’s assertion that the Taliban is “no longer attempting to gain new ground.”
In early May, the Taliban shut down the main highway that links Ghazni and Paktia provinces in eastern Afghanistan. One month later, the Taliban continues to control the road and tax civilians as Afghan forces have been unable to secure the road.