Taliban offensives in northern Afghanistan continue apace, with hundreds of fighters seizing the Shir Khan border town neighboring Tajikistan. Afghan soldiers have abandoned their posts, with some fleeing into Tajikistan.
This is the latest of a lot of losses in the area. The border crossing is some 50 km from Kunduz, whose provincial capital is also being attacked, and seems at risk of falling. The Faryab Province capital is similarly being raided.
The Afghan government has faced precipitous losses recently, with the UN reporting that 50 out of 370 government-held districts have fallen outright. The rate of losses seems to be growing in recent weeks.
A big part of the losses seems to be the Afghan government withholding reinforcements in engagements, letting their troops get overrun and then trying to retake the territory at a later date. This gives the illusion of being on a counter-offensive, but they aren’t retaking nearly so much as they’ve lost.
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