Kabul confirms collapse to the Taliban due to lack of resources

Kabul, Jul 6 (EFE).- The Afghan government on Tuesday confirmed that the Taliban have captured more than 100 of the country’s 400 districts, which it blamed on a lack of military support to the Afghan forces after the withdrawal of international troops.

“The Taliban’s territorial gains are due to several reasons… mainly as a result of the retreat (of foreign forces) as some of our own resources were not enough,” Hamdullah Mohib, National Security Advisor of the country, told a press conference.

United States and NATO troops began the final stages of withdrawal on 1 May, ending a 20-year mission and handing over nearly all military bases to the Afghan army.

On Friday, US troops left the Bagram air base, which had been their main operation center over the past two decades.

The Afghan security forces, which were besieged in their checkpoints, “may have abandoned their posts because they ran out of ammunition, they ran out of supplies, and therefore they were no longer able to fight,” Mohib said.

 “This is war, we will be under pressure at times but the Afghan National and Defense Forces are capable of defending most of the territory of Afghanistan and we are working to enhance their capabilities further,” he added.

The Afghan government has relocated some of the check posts and bases under pressure to more defensible locations, where they can be more easily supplied in the fight against the Taliban.

“The Afghan forces re-organized themselves and have disposed of some of those checkpoints that were not defensible to ensure that we can reach all of them,” he said.

Over the past couple of weeks, the government has worked on the “reorganization” of its air force, stopping all unnecessary flights for other purposes to allocate more resources to security operations, he added.

During the past two months, thousands of Afghan security forces have either abandoned their checkpoints or surrendered to the Taliban throughout the country.