Taliban take over radio station after capturing Afghan city

KABUL – The Taliban seized a vigor presumption successful Kandahar and took to the airwaves Saturday aft capturing overmuch of confederate Afghanistan successful a accelerated violative that has raised fears of a afloat takeover little than 3 weeks earlier the U.S. is acceptable to retreat its past troops.

The Taliban person captured overmuch of northern, occidental and confederate Afghanistan successful caller weeks, leaving the Western-backed authorities successful power of a smattering of provinces successful the halfway and east, arsenic good arsenic the capital, Kabul, and the bluish metropolis of Mazar-i-Sharif.

The withdrawal of overseas forces and the swift retreat of Afghanistan's ain troops — contempt hundreds of billions of dollars successful U.S. assistance implicit the years — has raised fears the Taliban could instrumentality to powerfulness oregon the state could beryllium plunged into civilian war.

The archetypal Marines from a contingent of 3,000 arrived connected Friday to assistance partially evacuate the U.S. Embassy. The remainder are acceptable to get by Sunday, and their deployment has raised questions astir whether the medication volition conscionable its Aug. 31 withdrawal deadline.

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The Taliban released a video successful which an unnamed insurgent announced the takeover of the city's main vigor station, which has been renamed the Voice of Sharia, oregon Islamic law. He said each employees were contiguous and would broadcast news, governmental investigation and recitations of the Quran, the Islamic beatified book. It appears the presumption volition nary longer play music.

It was not wide if the Taliban had purged the erstwhile employees oregon allowed them to instrumentality to work. Most residents of Kandahar athletics the accepted formal favored by the Taliban. The antheral successful the video congratulated the radical of Kandahar connected the Taliban's victory.

The Taliban person operated mobile vigor stations implicit the years, but person not operated a presumption wrong a large metropolis since they ruled the state from 1996-2001. At that time, they besides ran a presumption called Voice of Sharia retired of Kandahar, the birthplace of the militant group. Music was banned.

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The U.S. invaded soon aft the 9/11 attacks, which al-Qaida planned and carried retired portion being sheltered by Taliban. After rapidly ousting the Taliban, the U.S. shifted toward nation-building, hoping to make a modern Afghan authorities aft decades of warfare and unrest.

Earlier this year, President Joe Biden announced a timeline for the withdrawal of each U.S. troops by the extremity of August, pledging to extremity America's longest war. His predecessor, President Donald Trump, had reached an statement with the Taliban to pave the mode for a U.S. pullout.

Biden's announcement acceptable the latest violative successful motion. The Taliban, who person agelong controlled ample parts of the Afghan countryside, moved rapidly to prehend provincial capitals, borderline crossings and different cardinal infrastructure. They are present wrong 80 kilometers (50 miles) of Kabul.

Tens of thousands of Afghans person fled their homes, with galore fearing a instrumentality to the Taliban's oppressive rule. The radical had antecedently governed Afghanistan nether a harsh mentation of Islamic instrumentality successful which women were mostly confined to the home.

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Rahim reported from Istanbul and Krauss reported from Jerusalem.

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