3 Burst results for "Bilal Sarwari"
BBC Newshour
Taliban Takes Key Northern Afghan Cities as Battles Rage On
"Taliban in Afghanistan. Say they have now captured three cities in the north of the country, and it's hard not to conclude that the fighting for control of the country is going the Taliban's way. The government has acknowledged that the city of Taloqan, capital of Takhar province, Has fallen to the militants, with sources saying some provisions. Provincial officials were still trapped. Earlier, the Taliban said they had also taken the cities of Konduz and sorry pool. But the Defense Ministry in Kabul said special forces were still inside Kunduz city taking the battle to the insurgents, and an Interior Ministry spokesman said Afghan forces were winning back control and would defeat the Taliban. No, I haven't to other ensemble. So how do you have? Well? Yeah, one. The Afghan security forces, backed by the Air Force have launched a clean up operation in Kunduz City. They have been making progress and have captured some areas of the city and the Taliban have suffered heavy casualties. The city will soon be cleared of the terrorists. Reinforcements have also been deployed in other high risk provinces, and these cities that the Taliban want to capture will soon become their graveyards Hardship. Bilal Sarwari is an independent journalist in Kabul, and he's been telling me about today's developments on the ground. Well, we know that there's very heavy fighting inside the city of Kunduz, with the Taliban, managing to seize control of the provincial governor's office, as well as the police headquarters in the center of the city. But we've also seen you know very heavy fighting between Afghan special forces commandos in the Taliban. One Kunduz resident told me that there was a rain of bullets and shrapnel that hit homes. People simply could not basically even venture out of their living rooms, let alone seeing the street. We know that most of the districts in Kunduz province did fall to the Taliban a few weeks ago, even a month or so ago without much of a fight, So the city of Kunduz was always besieged. The Taliban were always at the four gates of the
KQED Radio
"bilal sarwari" Discussed on KQED Radio
"It's morning edition from NPR News. I'm Steve Inskeep, and I'm Sasha Pfeiffer. US forces and their allies may have largely left Afghanistan, but the country's four decade long war continues. NPR's DEA Hadid reports. This is perhaps the moment when the Afghan conflict entered a new phase in April, when President Biden announced American troops withdrawing there's time to end America's longest war. Since then, the Taliban have overrun about half of Afghanistan. Officially the negotiating peace with the Afghan government. But on the ground, mid level Taliban commander tells us the goal is quite different. He spoke to NPR's producer fossil Manila cast his eye over the phone. He requested anonymity because he doesn't want Afghan forces to identify him control. Operating. These military achievements are so we can rule the country. He goes on to say their strategies to overrun key districts and encircle urban centers to force their surrender. The Taliban also taking control of border crossings to deny the Afghan government revenue from customs duties and to compel neighboring countries to deal with them. One of the Taliban's greatest achievements was to overrun much of northern Afghanistan. Earlier this month, Afghan journalist Bilal Sarwari shed a video of turban fighters strolling through usually conquered Green Valley. They will cry out Long live the Islamic emirate, which is what the Taliban called themselves the pace of, uh, the fall of major districts. Is not only surprising It's quite shocking, shocking because northern areas were once the bastions of resistance to the Taliban, the Taliban commander We spoke to says that's why they targeted these areas to curb any nation Opposition. Taking the North also shows how the Taliban's fighting force has evolved. The North is dominated by ethnic Tajiks and Uzbeks..
ABC Radio MELBOURNE
"bilal sarwari" Discussed on ABC Radio MELBOURNE
"Want to come and take revenge and target. Them s so you have to also, you know, you also have to look at Afghanistan is a bloodbath off these revenge killings in assassinations making which yes. Speaking of which one of five attend my Texas No wants to know. Can you guess? Tell us if The allies are extracting civilian Afghan employees that worked with him during the withdrawal is they've bean Is that being pressured to do that? Well, what do you know that a lot of people have, you know, faced massive danger, especially the district at the village level, and we continue to hear about this targeted assassinations. Every day. Even the family members are getting targeted. So all these countries who have had a presence here they are actually the truth is that they're abandoning an entire generation. You know they're abandoning people who are great risk and the only way for mitigating all of this bloodshed and carnage and Another revenge killings would have been for Afghanistan toe have a comprehensive in permanent cease fire, which was never a red line for the American government. And this is an area where I think Afghan girl. Women suffered massively. That's not to say that they have done their job. The political couple, the political Afghanistan is extremely chaotic and, more importantly, the people of Afghanistan Lacking transparency on what is happening behind closed doors or few politicians are government officials meeting talking about peace, yellow OK, that one people are not part of this process, okay? I'm talking with with Bilal Sarwari, Freelance journalist based in Kabul, and she has a dark bar who's the chair of the Afghanistan Independent Human Rights Commission. About the future, both in Kabul, speaking to US life tonight about the future of Afghanistan in the in the event in advance of the U. S withdrawal in September, Of course, Australian troops have already have already left Afghanistan. Ha ha said the Taliban seemed determined from well from our point of view. From our perspective here to take to take Afghanistan back Tonto, the the strictures of a strict Islamic of strict Islamic law, the You know the girls to be denied opportunities and education and so on and so forth, and very rough justice. Indeed. What? Why does that have a Why does that seem to have appeal for many Afghan people? We'll flip. It's it's really difficult to have a sense off how much it is about a peel off Taliban are exhaustion with the governments and the service delivery off the government. It's very difficult to talk about Taleban's popularity because this killing Taliban controlled areas. Independent organizations have no access. There are no free or independent media. There are no civil society voices. Anyone who lives in Taliban controlled areas should say should do ask, Taliban say, and there are no other voices coming out off those areas except the voice of Taliban commanders. Even then, we don't have them. They're not allowed to talk media, it is see. So it's just basically people setting and daughter That we hear from, um so it's hard to know if if they are, in fact popular or if it is just people are exhausted by war, and people are exhausted by By everything that's going on, and they just want this madness tow ends I come from from Jones, John, North Afghanistan and several villages. And and that's a up around the town that I come from is now controlled by Taliban. Andre There you see, you see, people are suffering girl sections. You see young woman who want to continue their education, you know? High school education moving to the city to live with themselves in the city because they can't do it anymore. And the villages and areas the Taliban control even if there are schools there. You see female teachers professionals trying to move to the city is trying to move to Kabul. Now there is the option off moving away from Taliban controlled area. But if there is a full Taliban take over what would that mean for and it's not small numbers? Millions of people whose lives and our stations have changed. We're seeking. Education. I mean, you just look at you know hundreds of thousands of young Afghans seeking in taking part in university entrance exam and some off the larger number of woman come from very remote and and poor provinces in Afghanistan. So what's gonna happen to them? And and the aspirations and their dreams on the stairs, a negotiated settlement in which we are able to preserve the rights aspect, the progress that off Johnson has made in terms of human diet in terms off and shining, the human bites off woman in China, the human rights off Um, minorities, recognizing freedom of expression and the work of journalists and then providing some protection for that as part of the legal framework. Unless we can preserve that. I think it does look really him. It's also important to remember and I'm not a security our military expert. It's also important to remember, I think for people watching falling a constant that the Taliban military takeover won't be quick or easy or even some say possible it might just need toe an all out war and more intense violence. In escalation of violence and you know hundreds of thousands of people being displaced and moving, trying to most the neighboring countries and possibility to Europe before you have You have any sense off that important port are our stability. Okay? Raja has that Oppa's with us. The chair of the Afghanistan Independent Human Rights Commission and Bill also worry to freelance journalist based in Kabul. We're talking about The future of Afghanistan. But while you've been embedded with Afghan government forces fighting that the Taliban what What's your assessment of the capability of Afghan security forces?.