MOSCOW — The Afghan Taliban said on Friday that 85 percent of Afghanistan’sterritory was under their control.
The Taliban claim comes as the group continues its offensive amid the USmilitary withdrawal from the war-torn country.
At a press conference in Moscow, Taliban negotiator Shahabuddin Delawarsaid that “85% of Afghanistan’s territory” is under the group’s control,including some 250 of the country’s 398 districts.
“All administrative bodies and hospitals continue their work on thisterritory. We ensured their functionality,” he said, calling oninternational organisations “not to interrupt their missions.”
Delawar said the US withdrawal was a result of the Taliban bringingAfghanistan’s population over to its side under the “principle of Islam”.
“The United States was forced to leave our territory,” he said.
He said there was no agreement with the United States for the Taliban notto attack administrative centres remaining under Kabul’s control. “Theseare our internal affairs,” Delawar said.
More than 1,000 Afghan troops fled into Tajikistan this week after ablistering offensive by the Taliban in the north of Afghanistan.
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Afghan authorities have vowed to retake all the districts lost to the groupand deployed hundreds of commandos to counter their offensive in the north.
Russia is closely watching the offensive, concerned about the security ofCentral Asian countries where it maintains military bases.
Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said Friday theTaliban “currently controls about two-thirds” of Afghanistan’s border withex-Soviet Tajikistan.
On Thursday, a Taliban delegation in Moscow met with the Kremlin’s envoyfor Afghanistan, Zamir Kabulov, while the Russian foreign ministry releaseda statement saying that it had received assurances Central Asian borderswould not be violated.
According to reports, a delegation of the Taliban visited Moscow primarilyto offer assurances that their quick gains on the ground in Afghanistan donot threaten Russia or its allies in Central Asia.
US President Joe Biden on Thursday defended his country’s withdrawal fromAfghanistan, though he admitted that it was “highly unlikely” Kabul wouldbe able to control the entire country.
