Afghanistan: Provincial capital Aybak surrenders

Monday – The sixth provincial capital has fallen, this time in a rare move with the city surrendering after the Taliban entered without a will to fight.

The tribal elders had reportedly requested them to spare the city, according to the AFP news agency. Afghanistan’s Tolo News reported that the Afghan forces retreated from the city without fighting.

Most parts of Aybak city, the capital of Samangan province, fell to the Taliban this afternoon, said two lawmakers from Samangan, Abdalullah Mohammadi and Ziauddin Zia.

They said Afghan forces retreated from the city without fighting.

— TOLOnews (@TOLOnews) August 9, 2021

The fall of Aybak, Samangan means the Taliban would now have control over the famous brown marble exports of Samangan, the economy of the province revolves around the fruits and vegetables they yield along with their brown marble exports. With their morale further boosted and the loyalties of the locals now switching towards the Taliban after they are realizing who would be more capable to defend them in the future, the Taliban are now looking forward to head towards Mazar-e-Sharif having the Afghan troops surrounded.

Many would suggest the Afghan retreat to be tactical, as they could now focus on Mazar-e-Sharif, but with the Taliban have already intensified the fighting in the province, they too are now capable of bringing in reinforcements and a boosted morale to the fight, and with Balkh bordering Uzbekistan and being another vital trading route, the Afghan troops in worst-case scenario may be left stranded over there with nowhere to go but surrender or flee to the neighboring country.

The Taliban have control of the provincial strongholds in all the neighboring provinces and if Mazar-e-Sharif falls then the troops may have no place to retreat to if they do not surrender.

At this stage, the Taliban strategy clearly prioritizes the capture of the provincial capitals and especially those bordering neighboring countries.

To counter this, the Afghan government does not seem to have any short-term tactics or strategy. If they do then it doesn’t seem to be working and is nowhere to be seen.

The Taliban attack a city, after a few hours or days of fighting the Afghan forces retreat and the Taliban gain control over the city. With Aybak, we have now witnessed a complete walkaway, revealing just how bad things are for the Afghan army, they seem to be leaderless and without a strategy.

At this point we’re not even sure if a change in strategy would work as the morale of the soldiers would already be hitting the ground, unless their spirits are raised by a few exorbitant victories.