Afghanistan’s Ministry of Interior Affairs (MoI) will probe recent evacuations by government forces from the centers of various districts across the country. 
In the past two months, the Taliban has taken control of more than 120 districts.

This has led to all-round criticism of poor leadership and mismanagement of the war as the key reasons for the hardline Sunni Islamist group establishing control over large swathes of  territory in the country.

Reports say that in some districts like Shireen Tagab and Pashtun Kot and Qaisar districts of Faryab, and Qarabagh and Muqur districts of Ghazni provinces hundreds of security personnel surrendered to the Taliban without any resistance.

“There is speculation that the security forces were asked not to fight, but it is not confirmed who said this,” said MP Khan Agha Rezaee.

“Investigation is underway to find out the main reason,” said Gen. Abdul Sattar Mirzakwal, the acting minister of interior.

Referring to the factors behind the evacuations, the Ministry of Defense said that lack of equipment and delay in the delivery of emergency assistance to the security forces are among the factors that have led to the problem.

“We evacuated some areas to prevent casualties among civilians and military personnel, and to prevent the damage to residential areas and delay in on-time delivery of supplies to our personnel,” said Rohullah Ahmadzai, spokesman for the Ministry of Defense.

Rahmatullah Nabil, the former head of the Afghan intelligence agency, said that the Taliban is seeking to take over some strategic and important areas. TOLO News reported.

“The Taliban want to expand fighting in central provinces and to take control over the supply routes to Kabul and then go to the negotiating table where they will make major demands, and if their demands not met, they will focus on other objectives they seek,” said Nabil.

Taliban significantly increased their offensive after foreign troops started withdrawal from Afghanistan.

(SAM)