Seeming to validate President Barack Obama’s recent announcement to keep thousands of U.S. troops in Afghanistan, the Taliban took over yet another region in Afghanistan and now controls about one-tenth of the country’s districts.
Earlier in October, Obama announced the United States would keep a minimum of 5,500 troops in Afghanistan until 2017, drawing down from 9,800 in 2016, in what was likely his last decision on the 14-year war. This means the next president will have to make difficult choices on what to do next.
This year hasn’t been a good one for Afghanistan. Kunduz, a major city, fell to Taliban terrorists in September before the Afghan army recaptured it. Human rights activists said the Taliban was up to its old tricks, pillaging and looting the countryside. This has all been well documented, but it appears that media reports about the steady fall of territories throughout the nation haven’t kept up.
On Wednesday, the Taliban claimed a district in northern Afghanistan, overrunning the district center of Darqad in Takhar Province, according to the Long War Journal. The Taliban issued propaganda on its official website, Voice of Jihad, saying Darqad is now under its control.
Takhar was one of several northern provinces impacted by the huge earthquake earlier this week, killing hundreds in Pakistan and Afghanistan. It’s unclear if Darqad was directly affected.
