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On June 22nd, at least 134 Afghan soldiers fled a Taliban attack by crossing the border and taking refuge in Tajikistan.
The situation is tense because of the Taliban’s attack on the Shirhan border, the State Committee for National Security of Tajikistan said in a statement.
“Tajik border guards, who adhere to the principles of humanity and good neighborliness, allowed Afghan soldiers to enter the territory of Tajikistan by crossing the border without any obstacles,” the statement added.
Four Afghan soldiers entered Tajikistan in wounded condition.
The Shirhan border post is an important trade and transit point between Tajikistan and Afghanistan to South and Southeast Asia.
Afghan authorities announced on June 22nd that the border crossing was under the control of the militants as a result of the Taliban attack.
The Taliban seized ammunition and armoured vehicles in the town after Afghan authorities surrendered it to the advancing insurgents, Afghan officials said.
134 Afghan soldiers fled to #Tajikistan today, Tajik state media says. They were fighting against the Taliban in Kunduz. https://t.co/mzXLJd3lXF pic.twitter.com/YfCFDi41hW
— Farangis Najibullah (@FarangisN) June 22, 2021
Around 100 Afghan troops are said to have been killed or captured around the Shir Khan Bandar crossing. And this area is only one of many bordering Tajikistan that have seen unrest in the last couple of weeks.
The State Committee for National Security of Tajikistan named five districts in the Takhar province and another three in the Kunduz province, both of which border Tajikistan, that it said have fallen under Taliban control, along with a pair of border checkpoints.
Taliban success extend across other parts of Afghanistan too. UN special envoy Deborah Lyons this week warned of “dire scenarios” this week as she told the UN Security Council of how more than 50 of the country’s 370 districts have been seized from government troops.
Meanwhile, on the battlefields, suspected Taliban fighters fired a rocket into a hospital in Afghanistan on June 23rd.
The rocket sparked a blaze that caused extensive damage and destroyed COVID-19 vaccines though there were no reports of casualties, government officials said.
Taliban spokesmen Zabihullah Mujahid denied responsibility for the attack on the hospital in the eastern province of Kunar, which a provincial health director said resulted in the loss of crucial supplies.
“Different types of vaccine, including doses meant to fight polio and COVID-19 were destroyed in the fire,” said Kunar health official Aziz Safai.
In northern Afghanistan, the Taliban captured the town of Shir Khan Bandar, a dry port on the border with Tajikistan, sending customs worker and members of the security forces fleeing to safety over the border.
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Taliban will liberate entire Afghanistan in a few months.
Taliban is evil and terrorist
You Shiite devil!
I am hearing that Dostum has fled Afghanistan for Turkey even as Taliban forces enter Mazar e Sharif. Can’t find if it is true.
Probably true as he does have a knack for surviving. He is an Uzbek so may head back to Uzbekistan . Wasn’t he with the Lion of the North Massoud and they fought the Taliban before the US Calvary came charging from Uzbekistan after 9/11. I thought he was killed but apparently he survived the assassination attempt a couple of years back. He won’t be sticking around with the Taliban after his ass.
No. The bastard massacred hundreds of prisoners in 2001 by locking them in sealed containers. The Taliban has not forgotten that.
Dostum was in India last October begging for troops. Not even Modi is so stupid.
i hate Taliban and Isis both is evil
Only Shiites say that, because you know the Taliban will kick your militia asses in Afghanistan.