The nearly 20-year war was perhaps all but won last winter, when the Taliban seized control of the country’s major highways. And they made the most of peoples’ frustrations with the government.” He added: “They capitalized on intratribal, ethnic, religious and ideological differences to win over people. They managed the element of surprise,” said Saad Mohseni, the chief executive of Moby Media Group, which oversees TOLO News, the leading independent news network in Afghanistan. By contrast, the Taliban pounded home a message through social media and village elders that the government was illegitimate and the militants would soon restore their Islamic rule. The Taliban exploited Afghans’ resentments toward a corrupt and ineffective government that was unable to resupply its forces or mount an effective media campaign to rally the public to its side. Giustozzi, a research fellow at the Royal United Services Institute in London and the author of the 2019 book, “The Taliban at War.” “They contacted everyone and offered the chance to surrender or switch sides, with incentives, including money and rewarding people with appointments afterward,” said Mr. Giustozzi and other analysts said, was the Taliban’s plan to threaten and cajole security forces and government officials into surrendering, first at the checkpoint and outpost level, then the district and provincial level as they swept through the countryside. officials have said that perhaps only a sixth of that total was in the fight this year. That was more than enough to crush a government force listed at 300,000 on paper but hollowed out by corruption, desertion and a staggering casualty rate - U.S. The volunteers swelled Taliban ranks to more than 100,000 fighters from most analysts’ estimates of 60,000 to 70,000, Mr. That included 10,000 to 20,000 Afghan volunteers sent from Pakistan, a Taliban safe haven, and thousands more Afghan villagers who joined the militants when it became clear they were winning, said Antonio Giustozzi, a London-based analyst who has written several books about Afghanistan. The Taliban also received money, supplies and support from Pakistan, Russia and Iran, analysts said. 3, according to the Long War Journal at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies. The militants quickly expanded their control among the country’s 400-odd districts from 77 on April 13 to 104 on June 16 to 223 on Aug. The Taliban seized the advantage in May, crushing government troops now forced to defend themselves, with only an occasional long-distance American airstrike to help hold off Taliban surges.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |