Taliban tighten control of Afghan north as residents weigh options

Taliban fighters tightened their control of captured territory in northern Afghanistan yesterday as residents hid in their homes and a pro-government commander vowed to fight to the death to defend Mazar-i-Sharif, the biggest city in the north.

President Ashraf Ghani called on regional strongmen to support his embattled government after a stunning string of Taliban gains and as the United States said it was up to Ghani's forces to defend themselves.

In the town of Aibak, capital of Samangan province on the main road between Mazar-i-Sharif and the national capital, Kabul, Taliban fighters were consolidating their grip, moving into government buildings, residents said.

Most members of the government security forces appeared to have withdrawn, residents said, as they kept off the streets.

"The only way is self-imposed house arrest or to find a way to leave for Kabul," said Sher Mohamed Abbas, a provincial tax officer, when asked about living conditions in the town.

"But then even Kabul is not a safe option anymore," said Abbas, a father of four children and a sole bread winner for a family of nine.

Abbas said the Taliban had arrived at his office and told workers to go home. He and other residents said they had not seen nor heard fighting yesterday.

The Taliban, battling to defeat the US-backed government and reimpose strict Islamic law, swept into Aibak on Monday meeting little resistance.

Taliban and government officials have confirmed that the Islamists have overrun six provincial capitals in recent days in the north, west and south.

Forces in Pul-e Khumri, capital of Baghlan Province, to the southeast of Aibak, were surrounded as Taliban closed in on the town, at a main junction on the road from the north to Kabul, a security official said.

Gulam Bahauddin Jailani, head of the national disaster authority, said fighting was going on in 25 of the 34 provinces and 60,000 families had been displaced over the past two months, with most seeking refuge in Kabul.

The Taliban, ousted in the weeks after the September 11, 2001, attacks on the US, are in a position to advance from different directions on Mazar-i-Sharif. Its fall would deal a devastating blow to Ghani's government.

Atta Mohammad Noor, a northern militia commander, vowed to fight to the end, saying there would be "resistance until the last drop of my blood."

"I prefer dying in dignity than dying in despair," he said on Twitter.

India was sending a flight to the city to take its citizens home, its embassy said, asking Indians to leave. The US and Britain have already advised their citizens to leave Afghanistan.

In Kabul, Ghani's aides said he was seeking help from regional militias he has squabbled with over the years to rally to the defense of his government.

The US will complete the withdrawal of its forces at the end of this month under a deal with the Taliban, which included the withdrawal of foreign forces in exchange for Taliban promises to prevent Afghanistan being used for terrorism.

The US has been launching air strikes in support of government troops but said it was up to Afghan forces to defend their country. "It's their struggle," John Kirby, a Pentagon spokesperson, said on Monday.