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U.S. Warplanes Engaging Taliban in Effort to Slow Their Advance in Afghanistan

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At this point, it’s a 50-50 proposition whether the Taliban will completely overrun Afghanistan before the U.S. retreat is complete.

Joe Biden’s original target date for withdrawal — September 11 of this year — is no longer realistic. The Taliban took another provincial capital on Sunday — the city of Kunduz in northern Afghanistan — and are threatening several others. . .

In order to slow the Taliban’s advance — and give the Afghan government time to flee — U.S. warplanes struck Taliban targets in Helmand Province, including Kandahar, Herat, and Lashkar Gah.

The US has sent B-52 bombers and Spectre gunships to Afghanistan in a bid to stop Taliban insurgents who are marching towards three key cities.

The B-52s are flying into Afghanistan from an airbase in Qatar, hitting targets around Kandahar, Herat, and Lashkar Gah in Helmand province, sources told The Times.

(Read more from “U.S. Warplanes Engaging Taliban in Effort to Slow Their Advance in Afghanistan” HERE)

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Taliban Ambushes and Kills Afghan Government Media Official

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The Taliban ambushed and killed the director of Afghanistan’s government media center on Friday in the capital of Kabul, the latest killing of a government official just days after an assassination attempt on the country’s acting defense minister.

The slaying comes amid Taliban advances and battles for more territory as U.S. and NATO forces complete their final pullout from Afghanistan by the end of the month. The Taliban have been waging fierce battles for months across Afghanistan, laying siege to provincial capitals in the south and west of the country after capturing district after district and even seizing several key border crossings.

Also Friday, in southern Nimroz province, the capital of Zaranj appeared to be the first provincial capital to fall to the Taliban though the government claimed there was still fierce fighting around key infrastructure in the city. But the Taliban posted images on social media showing insurgents inside the local airport and posing for photographs at the entrance to the city.

Nimroz is sparsely populated in a region that’s mainly desert and Zaranj, the provincial capital, has about 50,000 residents. Its fall to the Taliban, if confirmed, was a mostly symbolic victory for the insurgents.

Meanwhile, Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid told The Associated Press that the insurgents killed Dawa Khan Menapal, the chief of the Afghan government’s press operations for local and foreign media. He had previously been a deputy spokesman for Afghan President Ashraf Ghani. (Read more from “Taliban Ambushes and Kills Afghan Government Media Official” HERE)

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China, Russia to Train Against Terror as Last U.S. Troops Exit Afghanistan

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China is set to host Russia for mass drills together involving counterterrorism training next month just as the last of the U.S. soldiers are set to exit Afghanistan.

The Chinese Defense Ministry and Russian Defense Ministry issued a joint statement Thursday stating that the Western Theater Command of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army will join troops from Russia’s Eastern Military District for a large-scale exercise called West-Interaction 2021, which will be held in early and mid-August in the city of Qingtongxia, which lies along the Yellow River in China’s northern Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region.

The two militaries are set to establish a joint command center overseeing the activities of some 10,000 troops along with various aircraft, artillery and armored equipment. The plan is to mix personnel from both sides for enhanced interoperability for the combined maneuvers involving an array of objectives.

“The two sides’ participating troops will be mixed into teams to make plans jointly and conduct training together,” the statements said, “in a bid to verify and improve both troops’ capabilities of joint reconnaissance, search and early warning, electronic information attack, and joint attack and elimination.” (Read more from “China, Russia to Train Against Terror as Last U.S. Troops Exit Afghanistan” HERE)

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White House Announces ‘Operation Allies Refuge’ To Evacuate Afghans Who Helped U.S.

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The Biden administration on Wednesday announced plans to evacuate Afghanistan citizens who assisted US troops in fighting the Taliban, dubbing the mission Operation Allies Refuge.

Flights out of the war-torn country will begin at the end of July ahead of the final withdrawal of US troops by Aug. 31.

A senior administration official said “the United States is launching Operation Allies Refuge to support relocation flights for interested and eligible Afghan nationals and their families who have supported the United States and our partners in Afghanistan.”

The official said that “flights out of Afghanistan for [special immigrant visa] applicants who are already in the pipeline will begin in the last week of July.” (Read more from “White House Announces ‘Operation Allies Refuge’ To Evacuate Afghans Who Helped U.S.” HERE)

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Taliban Surge In North Afghanistan Sends Thousands Fleeing

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. . .As the Taliban surge through northern Afghanistan — a traditional stronghold of U.S.-allied warlords and an area dominated by the country’s ethnic minorities — thousands of families like Sakina’s are fleeing their homes, fearful of living under the insurgents’ rule.

In the last 15 days, Taliban advances have driven more than 5,600 families from their homes, most of them in the northern reaches of the country, according to the government’s Refugee and Repatriations Ministry.

In Camp Istiqlal, family after family, all from the Hazara ethnic minority, told of Taliban commanders using heavy-handed tactics as they overran their towns and villages — raising doubts among many over their persistent promises amid negotiations that they will not repeat their harsh rule of the past. (Read more from “Taliban Surge In North Afghanistan Sends Thousands Fleeing” HERE)

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Top U.S. Commander in Afghanistan Relinquishes Post

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The top U.S. commander in Afghanistan relinquished his position at a ceremony in the capital Kabul on Monday, taking the United States a step closer to ending its 20-year war. The move came as Taliban insurgents continue to gain territory across the country.

Another four-star general will assume authority from his U.S.-based post to conduct possible airstrikes in defense of Afghan government forces, at least until the U.S. withdrawal concludes by Aug. 31.

Gen. Scott Miller has served as America’s top commander in Afghanistan since 2018. He handed over command of what has become known as America’s “forever war” in its waning days to Marine Gen. Frank McKenzie, the head of U.S. Central Command. McKenzie will operate from Central Command headquarters in Tampa, Florida.

The handover took place in the heavily fortified Resolute Support headquarters in the heart of Kabul at a time of rapid territorial gains by Taliban insurgents across Afghanistan.

In a flag-passing ceremony, Miller remembered the U.S. and NATO troops killed in the nearly 20-year war as well as the thousands of Afghans who lost their lives. (Read more from “Top U.S. Commander in Afghanistan Relinquishes Post” HERE)

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Psaki Blames Military for Worsening Afghanistan Situation (VIDEO)

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Rather than hold political leadership accountable, White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki blamed the U.S. military for the Afghanistan stalemate, during a Thursday press conference. Psaki said, “We’re not going to have a ‘mission accomplished’ moment in this regard. It’s a 20-year war that has not been won militarily.”

As the White House faces pressure to follow through with the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan set in motion by former President Donald Trump, Psaki said the Biden administration “will continue to press for a political outcome and a political solution.” Psaki holds the military at fault for the situation in Afghanistan, but hopes politicians will craft a “solution.”

Decorated combat veteran Sean Parnell, who led an infantry platoon for over a year in Afghanistan, slammed Psaki for her rhetoric and challenged her self-serving narrative. “We won EVERY SINGLE battle we were in on the ground. We did our job & we did it well,” Parnell responded. “It was the politicians who screwed things up, not the troops.”

(Read more from “Psaki Blames Military for Worsening Afghanistan Situation (VIDEO)” HERE)

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Over 1,000 Afghan Troops Flee Taliban As U.S. Embarks On Final Withdrawal

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Over 1000 Afghan security personnel were reportedly forced to retreat into Tajikistan over the weekend after Taliban fighters advanced in Northern Afghanistan.

The escalation comes as the United States has been drawing down troops from Afghanistan, where the U.S. has been fighting for nearly two decades following the September 11 terrorist attacks.

“The Taliban cut off all the roads and these people had nowhere to go but to cross the border,” a senior Afghan official told Reuters on Monday.

The United States vacated Bagram Airfield, its biggest airbase in Afghanistan, late last week—a move toward the complete withdrawal of all foreign forces. NATO also has withdrawn forces, and is expected to complete the process before the U.S. has completely left Afghanistan. (Read more from “Over 1,000 Afghan Troops Flee Taliban As U.S. Embarks On Final Withdrawal” HERE)

Polygamy May Complicate Biden’s Plans for Afghan Visas, Migration

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President Joe Biden’s deputies are fast-tracking exit visas for many thousands of Afghan men ahead of the looming U.S. military withdrawal — but they face a legal hurdle if they also want to give visas to all the wives of applicants in polygamous Islamic marriages.

Polygamy may complicate Biden’s efforts to admit into the U.S. the families of Afghans eligible for Special Immigrant Visas (SIVs), available to people who face threats because of work they did for the American government and military, many times risking their lives in combat zones.

Current U.S. government guidelines may require SIV applicants with several wives to break up their families to be eligible for admission into the United States, Breitbart News learned from the State Department, which oversees the visa application process.

Under current State Department guidelines, the spouse and unmarried children under age 21 may accompany Afghans who receive a special immigrant visa into the United States for working for the U.S. government and the American military —two distinct programs. (Read more from “Polygamy May Complicate Biden’s Plans for Afghan Visas, Migration” HERE)

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Taliban Seizing Afghan Military’s Outposts, Forces Surrendering

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As U.S. forces withdraw from Afghanistan, Taliban militants seize military outposts by threatening security forces until they agree to surrender, The New York Times reported Thursday.

By mid-May at least seven security outposts in rural Eastern Afghanistan have surrendered to the Taliban and around 120 law enforcement officials were allowed to leave villages after handing over weapons and other equipment, according to the Times.

“We told them, ‘Look, your situation is bad — reinforcements aren’t coming,’” 53-year-old village elder Nabi Sarwar Khadim who helped negotiate the surrenders said, the Times reported.

At least 26 outposts have surrendered to the Taliban since May 1, according to government officials and village elders, the Times reported. The Taliban have seized four district centers and displaced governors, police officers and intelligence officials. . .

The Taliban have exploited the U.S. troop withdrawal’s effect on Afghan security force morale to seize territory, military vehicles, weapons and ammunition, while buying off local militias, according to The Times. (Read more from “Taliban Seizing Afghan Military’s Outposts, Forces Surrendering” HERE)

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