Anti-Taliban chants, Herat city dominated by “ALLAH AKBAR”
[KhaamaPress] As the conflict between Afghan security forces and the Taliban in Herat city entered its sixth day, the residents of the city chanted ALLAH AKBAR (Allah is Great) to express their support to Afghan government forces and oppose the Taliban.
The chanting by men, women, and minors was unprecedented in twenty years and was welcomed by ordinary Afghan people and officials.
After the Taliban toppled all but one district including the provincial capital in western Herat province bordering Iran, the fighters stormed the city and launched an offensive against the Afghan National Defense and Security Forces. Last Friday was the worst in terms of the severity of the conflict. The Taliban toppled two Police Districts in the city and had besieged the airport. The ANDSF backed by US army airstrikes drove the Taliban from the city and recaptured the Guzara district of the province.
Afghanistan Ministry of Defense said that 41 Taliban fighters were killed and 32 more wounded as a result of land and air operations in Herat province Monday night.
Herat along with Lashkargah city of Helmand province, Taloqan of Takhar province, and Kandahar city are among the provincial capitals which have been witnessing heavy conflicts between the ANDSF and the Taliban in the past two weeks.
Residents also celebrated the advances of the Afghan National Defense and Security Forces in their fight against the Taliban in southern parts of Herat city. Monday was the sixth day of the fighting in Herat.
The move was widely welcomed by other Afghans across the country who created a hashtag of “Herat uprising” and “Allahu Akbar,” announcing their support to the Heratis.
Kabul residents took to social media and asked for a similar act in Kabul on Tuesday night.
Herat governor Gen. Abdul Saboor Qani, who has served in the leadership role of the country’s security agencies, on Tuesday said the security forces in the province have air support. He said that a large-scale military operation has started to clear the province of Taliban.
Clashes happened between the security forces and Taliban in southern parts of Herat on Monday, in a distance of at least 2 kilometers from the center of the city.
This comes as three civilians were killed and 10 more were wounded in an explosion in the city of Herat on Monday evening, health officials said. According to security sources, the blast targeted a bus carrying civilians, and women are among the victims.
Courtesy of badanov, Colonel Cassad adds:
In Herat, the Afghan army and Ismail Khan's militias / militias are still holding key areas of the city and are not allowing the Taliban to occupy them freely. Herat airport is also held and the road from the city to the airport is unblocked. The Taliban sit in the suburbs and a couple of residential areas. The fighting around Herat has so far been low-intensity. Against the background of Lashkar Gakh, everything is developing rather sluggishly. Based on the two shelling of the UN office in Herat (2 Afghan policemen were killed), the UN called on the Taliban not to do this again. The Taliban pretended to take note.