Taliban take Kandahar, country’s second largest city; US sends marines to evacuate citizens

Friday, 13 August 2021Newsdesk

The Taliban captured two major Afghan cities, the country’s second- and third-largest after Kabul, and a strategic provincial capital on Thursday, further squeezing the embattled government just weeks before the end of the American military mission in Afghanistan. The US is sending 3000 marines and soldiers along with 4000 troops to Afghanistan to evacuate American embassy and US citizens in Kabul. New York Times reported.

New Delhi, 13 August 2021

As per news report of The Indian Express, The seizure of Kandahar and Herat marks the biggest prizes yet for the Taliban, who have taken 12 of Afghanistan’s 34 provincial capitals as part of a weeklong blitz. The capture of the city of Ghazni, meanwhile, cuts off a crucial highway linking the Afghan capital, Kabul, with the country’s southern provinces, all part of an insurgent push some 20 years after US and NATO troops invaded and ousted the Taliban government. Meanwhile, the US and UK are scrambling reinforcements to Kabul to help evacuate their diplomats, soldiers and citizens as well as thousands of Afghans who have worked with them, as the Taliban advance towards the capital.

Source -indianexpress.com