Taliban Establish Control Over Kandahar, Afghanistan's 2nd Biggest City, Reports Say
22:46 GMT 12.08.2021(updated 22:49 GMT 12.08.2021)
MOSCOW (Sputnik) - The Taliban* Islamist movement has established control over Kandahar, Afghanistan's second-largest city, the Associated Press news agency reported, citing regional authorities.
The city was reportedly seized late Thursday, with local officials fleeing to the airport to escape the takeover.
Afghanistan is currently seeing a spike in violence as the Taliban step up their offensive after international troops started a gradual withdrawal from the country, scheduled to be completed by September 11. The pullout was stipulated in the agreement the Taliban and the United States signed in Doha in February 2020.
In August, the Taliban claimed that they had seized the administrative centers in 10 of the 34 Afghan provinces.
* a terrorist organization banned in Russia
© Sputnik
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