Taliban Claims 85 Percent Control Of Afghan Territory; Joe Biden Decides To Pull Out US Troops

A delegation of Taliban officials in Moscow said that they controlled around 250 of Afghanistan’s 398 districts.

Representative Photo

Kabul: Hours after US President Joe Biden ordered his troops to pull out of the war-torn nation, the Taliban on Friday claimed to be in control of 85 percent of Afghanistan’s territory.

The Taliban claimed that its fighters had seized the border town of Islam Qala, thereby completing an arc of territory from the Iranian border to the frontier with China.

A delegation of Taliban officials in Moscow said that they controlled around 250 of Afghanistan’s 398 districts.

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Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid too confirmed the same and said that the Islam Qala border crossing was “under our full control”.

Meanwhile, the Afghan government officials in Kabul said: “efforts are underway to recapture the site”.

“All Afghan security forces including the border units are present in the area, and efforts are underway to recapture the site," AFP quoted Afghan Interior Ministry spokesman Tariq Arian as saying.

This came as the US President had earlier said that his country’s military mission would end on August 31.

Biden, however, admitted it was “highly unlikely” Kabul would be able to control the entire country.

“The status quo is not an option,” he said, adding that he would “not send another generation of Americans to war in Afghanistan”.

The US President said the Afghan people alone should determine their future.