Afghan Officials Warn Malistan District on the Verge of Collapse

Provincial officials warn growing numbers are being displaced into Uruzgan

Most of the focus on fighting in Ghazni Province has been on the precipitous defeat in Jaghori, where even the deployment of advanced special forces has failed to slow Taliban advances. The neighboring Malistan District, however, is also being lost in heavy fighting.

As with Jaghori, Malistan was considered a relatively safe district, which rarely saw fighting of its own. The arrival of the Taliban, however, has meant hundreds of families fleeing into neighboring Uruzgan Province.

Whether Uruzgan will be able to accept them is unclear, as the Taliban has been engaged in offensives in that province as well. Ghazni officials are warning that the displacements and fighting could spark a humanitarian crisis.

In practice, it’s not clear what the Afghan government can do at this point. They’ve been losing militarily across the country, and the neighboring Jaghori District is the one getting almost all the reinforcements. Even this seems to be mattering little, with the Taliban killing even top commandos.

Author: Jason Ditz

Jason Ditz is Senior Editor for Antiwar.com. He has 20 years of experience in foreign policy research and his work has appeared in The American Conservative, Responsible Statecraft, Forbes, Toronto Star, Minneapolis Star-Tribune, Providence Journal, Washington Times, and the Detroit Free Press.