Taliban Seize Port of Islam Qala Crossing Point Along Iranian border

Taliban said that they have “seized Afghanistan’s largest border crossing with Iran,” as fighting continued between the Taliban and government forces in various parts of Afghanistan.

Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid told international news agency AFP on Friday that “the port of Islam Qala is now under our full control and we will try to resume activities on it today.”

The Afghan government could not immediately confirm its withdrawal from the port of Islam Qala, nor could the Taliban’s claim be independently verified.
Islam Qala is one of the main ports of Afghanistan and the government conducts most of its trade with Iran through this port.

It is the second major border to be seized by Taliban insurgents, who launched a major operation in May when US-led foreign forces began withdrawing from Afghanistan.

Last month, the Taliban captured Sher Khan Bandar after heavy fighting, crossing Afghanistan’s central border with Tajikistan. Meanwhile, hundreds of Afghan soldiers fled to neighbouring countries.

Russia says the Taliban have seized two-thirds of the Afghan-Tajik border.

“Russia has called on all parties in Afghanistan to show restraint.”

“We have seen a sharp rise in tensions on the Afghan-Tajik border,” Russian

Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said on Friday. “We have seen a sharp rise in tensions on the Afghan-Tajik border. The Taliban have seized a large part of the border districts and now control about two-thirds of the border.”

US Military Withdrawal: Taliban Attacked Afghan Provincial Capital

Earlier on Wednesday, the Taliban launched a major attack on a provincial capital in Afghanistan.

The first since the United States military began its final withdrawal of troops from the country.

Ferocious fighting exploded in the western city of Qala-i-Naw, the capital of Badghis, with the revolutionaries grabbing police headquarters and offices of the country’s spy agency.

Afghanistan’s Defense Minister Bismillah Mohammadi said government forces were in a “very sensitive military situation”, adding that “the war is raging” with the Taliban.

The attack came just hours after Washington proclaimed US forces on the ground had completed more than 90 per cent of their extraction from Afghanistan, and as the Kabul government held talks with Taliban legislatures in neighbouring Iran.

“The enemy has entered the city, all the districts have fallen,” Badghis governor Hessamuddin Shams told reporters in a text message.

Badghis provincial council Chief Abdul Aziz Bek long-established the attack, saying some security officials had submitted to the Taliban.

“The provincial council officials have fled to an army camp in the city. Fighting continues in the city,” added Badghis provincial council member Zia Gul Habibi.

She further stated that the Taliban had arrived in the city’s police headquarters and the local office of the country’s spy agency.