Fight against the Taliban: vigilante groups are forming in Afghanistan

The radical Islamic Taliban advance in Afghanistan every day. The government is planning a counter-offensive. Since the beginning of the withdrawal of international troops, vigilante groups have been forming to support the army.

There was chaos at Faizabad Regional Airport. Many wanted to go up the gangway on the plane to get out on that one flight – from the capital of Badachschan Province in northeastern Afghanistan. A video of the riot was widely shared on social media. Above all, local politicians and officials from Kabul have made it – from Faizabad, where the Taliban are at the gates. Up until nine years ago there was a Bundeswehr base here. Soon it could be the first provincial capital to be taken over by the radical Islamists.

Taliban are conquering more and more territories

“By God’s grace,” shouts a Taliban fighter standing on a hill, this is the eighth police district of Badakhshan. They conquered this area from the enemy and caused him heavy losses, he says in a video posted on Twitter. It cannot be said with absolute certainty whether this is authentic. The man behind the camera says the city of Faizabad is down there. They are only a few kilometers from the enemy’s bases.

But it is not just a propaganda war between the Taliban and the government in Kabul. It’s a civil war – even if you rarely hear the term. General Abbas Tawakali of the government army said in an interview with the AP news agency that they are now fighting back in Badakhshan province:

In the last few hours special forces and commandos have arrived in Badakhshan, we will soon begin our clean-up work to recapture the lost territories.

1000 soldiers fled to Tajikistan

But the Taliban keep advancing every day. In many places the government troops are simply overrun, almost all larger cities are more or less surrounded. In Badachschan in the northeast they could last up to eleven districts. More than 1,000 Afghan soldiers fled across the border into Tajikistan to save their lives, reports the neighboring country’s state news agency.

“We will destroy them for our country. They came, made our lives bad, we will do that for our future; for our civil rights, for our schools, for our hospitals, everything. They destroyed everything. We will them Destroy the government in Kabul, “said a Taliban police officer from a car to a journalist on the British broadcaster Sky. They are to blame for the misery of the Afghan people, according to the Taliban, so they will be fought to the end.

Vigilante groups are forming nationwide

In Kabul, however, President Ashraf Ghani’s national security advisor said the government army would now launch a counter-offensive. Vigilante groups have also formed nationwide in recent weeks – on the initiative of local politicians. Dozens of women are also there. They want to support the Afghan army in their struggle at the moment when the last international troops are leaving the country.