The city is the fifth largest in the country and is located along the main road between Afghanistan and Pakistan, about 150 kilometers east of Kabul.
It was the last major city outside Kabul that did not fall into the hands of the Taliban.
Jalalabad was transferred to the Taliban early Sunday morning without a fight after negotiations. The rebels published pictures showing them inside the governor’s office in the provincial capital.
The Taliban is said to have taken control of the area after negotiations with local leaders in the area.
There are no clashes in Jalalabad because the ruler surrendered to the Taliban. A local politician said abandoning the Taliban is the only way to save civilian lives BBC.
fist attached
The seizure of power on Sunday followed the capture of Mazar-i-Sharif and Maimana on Saturday. Cities withstood the Taliban for several days.
Mazar-i-Sharif is the fourth largest city in Afghanistan. Norwegian forces were stationed there between 2006 and 2014. Government forces and local warlords were intent on defending the city.
Local elected official Fawzia Al-Raoufi said Maimana, the capital of Faryab province for which Norwegian forces had been in charge of security for several years, also fell on Saturday.
The capital, Kabul, is now the only major urban area controlled by the government and its forces.
It is said that Jalalabad was one of the last safe ways out of Kabul for refugees. This was stated by the US Institute of Peace.
It controls 20 provincial capitals
In recent days, the Taliban have captured the country’s second and third largest cities, Kandahar and Herat, and now control nearly 25 of the country’s 34 regional capitals.
In addition to Mazar-i-Sharif and Maimana, they also captured Sharana in Paktika province, Asadabad in Kunar and Nellie in Daykundi province on Saturday. The last one after only two shots were fired.
In Sharana, local leaders were reported to have tried to mediate between Taliban and government forces to avoid hostilities after fighting broke out on Saturday morning.
20 Provinces: Last week, the Taliban took control of 20 provincial capitals in Afghanistan. Two soldiers in front of an old police station in Ghazni city, southwest of Kabul.
Photo: Gulabuddin Amiri / AP
approaching Kabul
On Saturday, the Taliban also took control of most of Logar province, south of Kabul. Having occupied the Char Asyab region, they are only 11 kilometers from the capital.
Panic spreads in the city. Many fear that only days will pass before the Taliban advance to Kabul. At the airport, there are queues of people trying to get tickets abroad.
Residents also queue for an hour to get valid passports so they can leave the country.
The United States warns the Taliban
The first batch of 3,000 American soldiers to evacuate American and Afghan diplomats who worked for the United States also arrived at the airport.
On Saturday, President Joe Biden increased the number to 5,000.
At the same time, Biden warned the Taliban against attacking US interests, he writes The New York Times.
“If the Taliban do anything that jeopardizes American personnel or our mission, we will respond quickly with significant military force,” the president said.
Britain, Germany and other countries are also sending planes and soldiers to retrieve their diplomats and other nationals, as well as translators and other locally employed Afghans.
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