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Afghan conflict: Taliban take Mazar-i-Sharif, government's last northern stronghold
BBC News ^ | August 14, 2021

Posted on 08/14/2021 3:46:01 PM PDT by Oldeconomybuyer

Taliban fighters have captured Mazar-i-Sharif, the last major city in northern Afghanistan which was still under government control.

The fall of the traditional anti-Taliban bastion marked a major gain for the militants, who have been advancing at speed as US-led forces withdraw.

Local officials said Mazar-i-Sharif - the capital of Balkh province and fourth largest city in Afghanistan - fell largely without a fight.

Abas Ebrahimzada, a lawmaker from Balkh, told the Associated Press news agency that the national army were the first to surrender, which then prompted pro-government forces and other militia to give up.

(Excerpt) Read more at bbc.com ...


TOPICS: Foreign Affairs; News/Current Events; War on Terror
KEYWORDS: afghanistan; quagmire; taliban
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1 posted on 08/14/2021 3:46:01 PM PDT by Oldeconomybuyer
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To: Oldeconomybuyer

When will the Taliban erect a statue of Biden? He certainly deserves it. No other American will get his own statue in Afghanistan.


2 posted on 08/14/2021 3:47:49 PM PDT by centurion316
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To: Oldeconomybuyer

All over but the shouting.


3 posted on 08/14/2021 3:48:08 PM PDT by dfwgator (Endut! Hoch Hech!)
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To: Oldeconomybuyer

The word “conflict” would imply resistance.


4 posted on 08/14/2021 3:52:42 PM PDT by E. Pluribus Unum ("Communism is not love. Communism is a hammer which we use to crush the enemy." ― Mao Zedong)
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To: Oldeconomybuyer

I’m having flashbacks to Jihma Carter and the Iran Embassy.

Humiliation. Kids these days love it. We’re screwed.


5 posted on 08/14/2021 3:52:48 PM PDT by Born to Conserve
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To: Oldeconomybuyer

The Chinese Communist Party has already started their mining operations


6 posted on 08/14/2021 3:53:07 PM PDT by butlerweave
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To: Oldeconomybuyer

It’s like the Blitzkrieg vs Polish horse cavalry...except the Poles fought valiantly.


7 posted on 08/14/2021 4:00:41 PM PDT by Bonemaker (invictus maneo)
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To: Oldeconomybuyer

Media salivating...more war!


8 posted on 08/14/2021 4:01:46 PM PDT by toddausauras (How far will the left go in terms of destroying our personal freedoms?)
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To: Oldeconomybuyer
...the national army were the first to surrender, which then prompted pro-government forces and other militia to give up.

The calligraphy is on the bulkhead.

9 posted on 08/14/2021 4:03:30 PM PDT by Billthedrill
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To: Oldeconomybuyer

10 posted on 08/14/2021 4:03:31 PM PDT by Theoria
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To: Oldeconomybuyer

If Biden said even one thing that was correct (Afghan Army of 300,000, Talban 75,000 fighters), then the Afghan Army must have abandoned the battlefields.


11 posted on 08/14/2021 4:03:57 PM PDT by Will88 (The only people opposing voter ID are those benefiting from voter fraud.)
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To: Oldeconomybuyer
The situation is now much worse than the map below shows:

Map shows jihadis flocking to Afghanistan to launch terror war!:


12 posted on 08/14/2021 4:08:51 PM PDT by Grampa Dave (If I wanted to live in Australia, China, Cuba, Canada, the UK, or Chicago! I'd move there! )
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To: Oldeconomybuyer
headline: "Taliban take Mazar-i-Sharif, government's last northern stronghold"

Must not have been much of "stronghold".

But then the Left can change the definition of men and women, the definition of normal and deviant, and now the definition of stronghold

13 posted on 08/14/2021 4:10:37 PM PDT by Governor Dinwiddie ("Success is 10 percent inspiration and 90 percent perspiration." — Thomas Edison)
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To: Grampa Dave

The Taliban offered W Bin Laden in 2001

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2001/oct/14/afghanistan.terrorism5


14 posted on 08/14/2021 4:10:46 PM PDT by combat_boots (Hi God bless Israel and all who protect and defend her. Merry Christmas! In God We Trust! )
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To: Billthedrill

We spent decades and a ton of money “Training” their forces.
If their people are unwilling to fight for their freedom no amount
of Training or Money can help them.
Let them go back to what they have always been.
A Warlord Society.


15 posted on 08/14/2021 4:12:10 PM PDT by tennmountainman ( Liberals Are Baby Killers)
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To: Born to Conserve
I’m having flashbacks to Jihma Carter and the Iran Embassy.

Thus far Biden has made it a prior to get Afghan nationals out of Afghanistan, not Americans. He will have a major disaster on his hands if the Taliban make to the embassy and Americans are their. 1,200 Afghani Muslim pieces of excrement were airlifted out by the US on Thursday. That could have been Americans.

My SIL is in Kabul with the 82nd. I certainly do not want his career tarnished by a mission that is a complete Charlie Foxtrot. Worse yet, I don't want him injured or killed so a pedophile prophet worshiping POS can immigrate to America. My grandson deserves a father more than any Muslim deserves to immigrate to America. America First means American Lives First. Muslims Lives Do Matter.

16 posted on 08/14/2021 4:17:40 PM PDT by ConservativeInPA (“When injustice becomes law, resistance becomes duty.” ― Thomas Jefferson)
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To: ConservativeInPA

Prayers for your SIL and all of our troops and staff there, will be ongoing off and on all day and this evening.

This is horrid. We really need Trump.


17 posted on 08/14/2021 4:21:21 PM PDT by MarMema
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To: Oldeconomybuyer
Maybe the absolutely stupidest part of our Afghanistan disaster:

Abandoning Bagram AFB in the dark of night, with no notice to the ANA, so that we now have no way to stage and fly tactical missions into and out of A-stan, other than from Kabul Int'l Airport (now jammed full of evacuees and civilian refugees.)

If we still had Bagram, we could use it to handle tactical fighters and troop transports, enough to keep the Taliban at bay until we evacuated Kabul. Taking off, reloading and landing at Bagram, instead of hours and hours away.

Without Bagram AFB, we are reduced to flying tactical missions from very long range. This gives the Taliban an immense OODA loop advantage. The Taliban now has local air assets (ex Russian Hips, ex U.S. Blackhawks), artillery up to 155mm howitzers, etc. This means they can move troops and artillery around much faster than we can respond with air missions from approx. 1,000 miles away.

Now, the Taliban can shut down Kabul Intl' anytime they choose, using local forces under their control. We are 100% at their mercy. A total debacle. Every general involved should be busted to private and then fired without a pension.

Or shot.


18 posted on 08/14/2021 4:22:41 PM PDT by Travis McGee (EnemiesForeignAndDomestic.com)
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To: MarMema

Thank you for your prayers. My SIL would certainly feel moved by knowing that there are people praying. May the Holy Spirit be felt by all our troops and give them strength as they go into battle with the devil’s forces.


19 posted on 08/14/2021 4:23:40 PM PDT by ConservativeInPA (“When injustice becomes law, resistance becomes duty.” ― Thomas Jefferson)
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To: Oldeconomybuyer

Afghan Uzbek warlord Abdul Rashid Dostum and Tajik leader Atta Mohammad Noor fled to Hayratan Border Pass with Uzbekistan about 5 hours ago.

That’s it, charter flights arriving in Kabul now, evacuating foreign nationals.

Our ambassador is likely to evac in 36 hours. Power is out in Kabul, airstrikes heard in the south of Kabul. There is one Afghan division and and a special operations corps left in Kabul. Estimated 70% of all the weapons and vehicles and aircraft are in Taliban hands.


20 posted on 08/14/2021 4:26:04 PM PDT by gandalftb
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