By Saphora Smith and Jiachuan Wu
Aug. 16, 2021
Few predicted that it would happen this fast.
The Taliban are on the brink of power in Afghanistan after sweeping through the country at break-neck speed.
After U.S. troops began withdrawing from Afghanistan on May 1, the Taliban launched its offensive to take back control of the country they lost to the United States nearly 20 years ago, after it toppled their regime in 2001.
President Donald Trump’s administration had made a deal with the militants in 2020 that all U.S. troops would withdraw from Afghanistan by the end of April 2021. The Taliban was consequently angry with President Joe Biden’s decision to delay full withdrawal to a new deadline of Sept. 11, coinciding with the 20th anniversary of the terrorist attacks that triggered America’s invasion of the war-ravaged country.
The militants made swift work of capturing rural districts even in the north of the country, a stronghold for the government. They then turned their guns on Afghan cities. On Aug. 6, Zaranj, the capital of Nimroz province, fell to the militants. Nine days later, Kabul and other major Afghan cities would also be in their hands.
By Monday, President Ashraf Ghani had fled, America was rushing to get its diplomatic personnel out of Kabul and the Taliban had control over three-quarters of the country. Two decades of fighting, thousands of lives and billions of dollars had failed to bring lasting democracy to Afghanistan.
NBC News has highlighted key moments in the insurgents’ path to victory.
Source: | This article originally belongs to Nbcnews.com
