Nader Naderi said the Taliban are also demanding that their leaders be removed from the UN blacklist.

– It’s a blanket requirement, he says.

The Taliban have occupied large areas since the United States and NATO began withdrawing and are now claiming control of 85 percent of the country.

border crossings

The Taliban also controlled the border crossings with Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, Iran and Pakistan.

– After two decades of brutality by the Americans and their agents, this border and the Spin Boldak area were captured, says one of the insurgents in a video released by the Taliban.

tear gas

In the early hours of Thursday morning, Pakistani police used tear gas and batons to prevent hundreds of Afghans from trying to cross the border in Spin Boldak, 100 kilometers from the Afghan city of Kandahar.

– They threw stones, forcing us to use tear gas, says a spokesman for the Pakistani security forces at the border crossing, which is 100 km from Kandahar and 140 km from the Pakistani city of Quetta.

– We had to use batons because people became quite unruly, says another speaker.

Peace talks

The government in Kabul is now left with little more than an assembly of the provincial capitals that have to a large extent to obtain supplies and reinforcements for the air corridors.

A government delegation from Afghanistan is now in Qatar for a new round of peace talks with the Taliban.

(© NTB)