Yet again, the Taliban has promoted another propaganda video flaunting its fighters occupying a military base and several security outposts in broad daylight without fear of retribution or targeting by Afghan and Coalition air or ground power.
The latest Taliban video came from the district of Chimtal in Balkh province in northern Afghanistan and appears to have been shot last week. Taliban fighters were shown milling around the bases without fear of reprisal. Some were communicating on their radios. The Taliban flag flew high over the bases.
This is getting old. Yet again Taliban fighters are openly touring a base it claimed it overran in Chimtal district in Balkh in northern Afghanistan, likely on Sept. 11. No fear of being target by Afghan or @ResoluteSupport air. Talking on radios. Taliban flags flying high. pic.twitter.com/ZKESGV9JGw
— Bill Roggio (@billroggio) September 19, 2018
In a statement released on Sept. 11 on Voice of Jihad, the Taliban claimed its fighters overran “15 posts and 1 base in [Chimtal] district” and killed 13 Afghan security personnel.
An Afghan official told TOLONews that at least four security outposts in Chimtal fell to the Taliban on Sept. 11 after Afghan soldiers were withdrawn from a base in the district. The unnamed official also claimed the base was torched before the Afghan troops withdrew. However, in the Taliban video, there was no evidence that the base was set aflame.
In addition to overrunning the base, the Taliban claimed it took over 15 “checkposts” or small security outposts in Chimtal. pic.twitter.com/ga0qzTNQdA
— Bill Roggio (@billroggio) September 19, 2018
Ironically, the spokesman for Balkh’s police force “rejected the allegations and said no outpost had fallen to militants in [Chimtal] district,” TOLONews reported.
Taliban videos such as the one from Chimtal have become all too common over the past two years. The Taliban has repeatedly demonstrated that it can mass its forces, attack and often defeat Afghan forces stationed at remote outposts and bases in Afghanistan’s rural areas. Over time, these attacks have had a demoralizing effect on Afghan police and military units. In some cases, Afghan security forces surrender their bases without a fight, and in others, security personnel surrender to the Taliban after failing to receive reinforcement and resupply.
The Taliban currently contests or controls 61 percent of Afghanistan’s districts according to a study by FDD’s Long War Journal. The group has been able to make significant gains in Afghanistan over the past several years in part because it is not being made to pay the price for assembling and operating in the open, while Pakistan continues to provide safe haven and support to the Taliban’s leadership and its fighters.
from Long War Journal – FDD's Long War Journal https://ift.tt/2DcZSKo
via Defense News
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