In the areas taken over by the Taliban– about half the country’s 400 districts– new laws are already in place.
Reports from areas held by the Taliban say women are not permitted to leave their house on their own: they have to be accompanied by a male family member. Of course, women have to wear the hijab and men, grow beards. In Taliban-held areas, which are not major cities as yet, the media has received special orders. Local radio stations have to broadcast the “achievements” of the Taliban, sources said.
The Taliban now control over 210 of the 400 odd districts Afghanistan is divided into. The Afghan governments control about 70 and the rest are being fought over.
The Taliban has made rapid advances in the last two months, taking over about 140 districts, including 20 till mid-July. They were in the provinces of Helmand, Kandahar, Farah, Laghman, Parwan, Khost, Herat, Ghor, Bamyan and Ghazni. But it hasn’t all been one way. The Afghan security forces have taken three districts in the provinces of Kunduz, Nimroz and Badakshan.
The Taliban, in recent weeks, sources said, have taken heavy losses, particularly in Badakshan, Herat, Kandahar and Takhar, where the number of estimated killed are about 60, 110, 250 and 170 respectively. The total number of Taliban fighters killed is close to a thousand, while with the government forces and civilian casualties, the number is incomplete.
The Taliban have also captured a number of border crossings. They include Torghundi and Islam Qala in Herat and Abu Nasr Farahi in Farah. They link up with Iran. Similarly, the posts in Sher Khan in Kunduz and Ay Khanom in Takhar on the Tajik border is also with the Taliban as is Aqina in Faryab on the Turkmenistan side. Dand-e-Patan in Paktia and Spin Boldak in Kandahar, close to Pakistan, have also fallen.
