6 Badakhshan districts may fall to Taliban: Senators

KABUL (Pajhwok): Meshrano Jirga or upper house members from northeastern Badakhshan province on Sunday warned that six districts of the province were on the verge of falling to Taliban insurgents.

A week earlier, Taliban militants killed many security forces including the district police chief for Maimy district of Badakhshan province.

A number of senate members today discussed the security situation of the province.

Gulalai Akbari, a senator from Badakhshan, said that the security situation of the province had worsened since last two weeks during which 30 local security forces were killed.

“Taliban also seized all equipment of government facilities they captured, but the central administration took no steps despite the issue was shared with it and the insurgents finally captured the district,” she said.

Gulalai said a number of other districts, particularly those sharing border with Tajikistan, faced threats and they might also fall into the hands of rebels if measures were not taken.

Kamil Baik Hussaini, another Meshrano Jirga member, said, “Badakhshan is on the brink of collapse, particularly six districts which share border with Tajikistan.”

He also said the issue had been shared with the central government, but no action was so far taken.

Mohammad Alam Ezdyar, first deputy chairman of the upper house, also expressed concern over the deteriorated security situation in Badakhshan and asked the government to take action before further areas fell to the insurgents.

“Badakhshan which shares border with Pakistan and Tajikistan is rich in natural resources and serves a financial source for the Taliban and practical steps should be taken for reducing threats there”, he added.

Fazal Hadi Muslimyar, the Meshrano Jirga chairman, also said that the government should pay attention to the security of Badakhshan. He promised to share their concerns with the president.

This comes as the Ministry of Defense in a statement today said that the Maimy district had been cleared of Taliban and recaptured during an operation.

mds/ma

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