Intensification of the war and the crisis of displacement in Afghanistan. Contrary to their obligations under the Doha Agreement, the Taliban have attacked cities and captured provincial capitals. The Taliban have taken control of at least nine provinces in a week. Badakhshan and Baghlan are two provinces that Taliban fighters have just taken over, and the group continues its attacks on Kandahar, Herat, and Helmand. Afghanistan’s abnormal situation has led President Ghani to the grave to work with several prominent politicians to oust the Taliban from northern Afghanistan.

 

The Presidential Palace announced that the capital of Balkh province entered Mazar-e-Sharif on Wednesday morning (8/11/2021) at the same time as the Taliban increased their attacks and the group’s efforts to seize Shar-e-Mazar-e-Sharif. According to reports, Mohammad Mohaqiq, the president’s political and popular adviser, Juma Khan Hamdard, a former jihadi commander, and several other figures accompanied the president on the trip.

 

Simultaneously with the visit of Mohammad Ashraf Ghani to Mazar-e-Sharif, Marshal Abdul Rashid Dostum, the former vice president, also arrived in Balkh with several forces under his command.

 

It is expected that a meeting will be held today to review the security situation in the north with the presence of Marshal Dostum, Atta Mohammad Noor, and several other security and defense commanders in Balkh province. Government sources told the media that the purpose of the trip was to coordinate security and defense forces and mobilize the people. In addition, advancing the operation to retake areas in Mazar-e-Sharif from the Taliban also raised issues that will be discussed at the meeting.

 

Northern insecurity has dragged President Ghani to Mazar-e-Sharif. The Taliban now claim that the group’s efforts to seize Kandahar, Afghanistan’s strategic province and the Taliban’s main birthplace, have expanded. But senior government officials believe that the Taliban already sound the alarm in the north of the country. As a result, the country’s security and defense forces will soon try to change the security situation in the north at the behest of senior government officials.