Where is mazar e sharif afghanistan

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Your Subscription Plan Cancel Subscription. Ghani had flown to Mazar-e-Sharif on Wednesday to rally the city's defences and met with several militia commanders, including Dostum and Noor. Ghani also held talks with local leaders and international partners, including US secretary of State Antony Blinken, on Saturday.

The US state department said that Ghani and Blinken discussed urgent efforts to bring down violence in Afghanistan. Several Western countries are evacuating their embassy staff, citizens and Afghans who had worked for them from Kabul as the hardline Islamist terrorists have swept through the country in recent weeks as US-led forces withdrew. President Joe Biden said on Saturday he was authorising the deployment of 5, troops to help evacuate citizens and ensure an "orderly and safe" withdrawal of US military personnel.

They said the United Kingdom, which was sending troops, sped up the departure of Britons. Hundreds of thousands of people from across Afghanistan have taken refuge in Kabul and are living in tents or in the open in the city. As the fighting has escalated it has raised fears of a refugee crisis and a rollback of gains in human rights, especially for women.

Muzhda, a single woman who fled to Kabul with her two sisters from nearby Parwan, said she was terrified. Residents of Herat and Kandahar express shock and anger at the swift fall of their cities to the Taliban. Published On 14 Aug From: Inside Story. The Taliban is taking control of more of Afghanistan and closing in on the capital Kabul. More from News. US: Blinken to make first official visit to sub-Saharan Africa. Belarusian airline stops flying Middle East citizens from Turkey.

Afghan mosque hit by blast during Friday prayers. France hosts Libya conference ahead of polls in war-torn nation. Western countries are scrambling to evacuate their citizens. Local officials said Mazar-i-Sharif - the capital of Balkh province and fourth-largest city in Afghanistan - fell largely without a fight.

Abas Ebrahimzada, a lawmaker from Balkh, told the Associated Press news agency that the national army were the first to surrender, which then prompted pro-government forces and other militia to give up. Mazar-i-Sharif is a major economic centre that lies close to the borders with Uzbekistan and Tajikistan. The last time the Taliban took the city was in the s. Footage shared on social media appeared to show Taliban militants inside Mr Dostum's empty house. Following crisis talks with Mr Ghani earlier this week, Mr Dostum struck a defiant tone, saying: "The Taliban have come to the north several times but they were always trapped.

In a Facebook post on Saturday, Mr Noor blamed government forces for the defeat, saying they handed their weapons and equipment to the Taliban. He said he and Mr Dostum were in a "safe place".

My child is very afraid and my wife is crying now. What should we do tomorrow? Other areas also fell to the Taliban on Saturday, including the capitals of Paktika and Kunar provinces. Then on Sunday morning, the insurgents took Afghanistan's fifth-largest city Jalalabad, the capital of Nangrahar province, without resistance. A local official said it was the only way to save civilian lives. The Taliban now control more than half the country's provincial capitals.

Kabul is the only major city still under government control.