FIROZOH (Pajhwok): A number of residents of western Ghor province on Monday warned the Taliban would soon take over Firozkoh city, the provincial capital, if urgent clearing operations were not conducted.
The residents say that after the fall of Shahrak, Tolak and Saghar districts of the province, the Taliban have now imposed an economic blockade on Dolina, Pasaband, Tiorah and ChaharSada districts besides escalating their attacks on parts of LalwaSarjangal, Dawlatyar and on outskirts of Firozkoh city.
However, Ghor governor said that more Afghan soldiers coming from Kabul had been to the province to keep the Taliban at bay.
Nisar Ahmad Kohin, a civil society activist in Ghor, talking to Pajhwok, said, “The security situation in Ghor is worrisome, three districts have collapsed and other districts are under fire. Unfortunately the government did not help much during this period and it only watched the fall of areas. This will be a strong hit for supporters of the government in other areas too…”
He warned that the Taliban would also capture the remaining districts and the provincial capital if the government did not launch urgent ground and air operations.
Mohammad Hassan Hakimi, another civil society activist, said, “Unfortunately the enemy has captured some areas which affected the morale of Afghan forces, if the central government does not equip security forces and deploy more security personnel, the situation will worsen.”
HamidullahMutahid, a provincial council member, said, “The leadership of war is weak, it also affected the morale of security forces, there are no right plans and programs for ground and air operations.”
A number of district and police chiefs also criticized the central government and local administration.
HabibRahmanMalakzada, police chief of Theora district of Ghor said that the Taliban had blocked economic and supply routes to the district since a month but the local administration was doing nothing.
He said that he had repeatedly shared the matter with relevant officials, but no attention was paid. “Shahrak, Tolak and Saghar are in our neighborhood, they have collapsed, it means that we are under higher threat and routes are blocked for more than a month, the government does not care…”
Shahrak district of Ghor was the first that fell to Taliban militants on June 6.
Mohammad Kabiri, Shahrak district chief, said that no action had so far been taken for recapturing the district as the district police chief along with his 183 soldiers had joined the Taliban.
He said that the district police chief handed over the district to Taliban based on collusion. However, Ghor governor rejected it was collusion.
On the other hand, local officials say the districts would be soon recaptured from Taliban.
Abdul ZahirFaizada, Ghor governor, told Pajhwok that a representative from the Ministry of Defense has recently arrived in the province to take lead of the conflict there.
He said that Gen. Qaderi who previously served as commander of 207thZafar Military Corps had been tasked by the ministry to lead the war in Ghor.
Faizada said that Shahrak and Tolak districts would be soon recaptured from Taliban and Afghan forces who had retreated from the area would be redeployed.
The Taliban would be no longer able to take further territories in Ghor, he added, saying the Taliban had gathered from neighboring provinces in order to launch attacks and capture districts, but they failed in many areas.
mds/ma
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