Taliban Overrun Central Afghan District

DM says loss is 'tactical retreat'

Taliban fighters have confirmed seizing the Jalrez District in Wardak Province, just some 60 kilometers from Kabul. The district governor’s compound and police headquarters have both been overrun, officials confirmed.

The Afghan Defense Ministry downplayed the loss as a “tactical defeat” and said there is an offensive underway to reclaim it. They confirmed they took no effort to stop the Taliban from taking it in the first place.

That’s been a common theme in the fights, with the military letting the Taliban overpower locals, and then occasionally retaking territory to crow about its “victories.” They’ve described this as an offensive-focused strategy, which the US pushed them to pursue.

Casualties in the districts fall are not clear, but officials claimed 10 Taliban slain in an airstrike. This is the second Wardak district to have fallen in the last two weeks.

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.