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30Jul19

Taliban storms district headquarters in Zabul province

The Taliban overran Mizan district in the southern province of Zabul today. The district was under siege for more than one year before it fell, according to the Taliban. Security in Zabul province, which is a known haven for al Qaeda and straddles the border with Pakistan, has deteriorated over the past five years. Al Qaeda operated a base in Mizan as recently as Sept. 2016.

In a statement released on Voice of Jihad, the Taliban reported that Mizan's "district administration center, police head quarter and other security installations that were under tight siege of Mujahideen for the last one year have been overrun completely at noon hours today."

Additionally, the Taliban said that the Afghan forces abandoned the district and were ambushed as they retreated.

Press reports support the Taliban's claim that the district has been unstable for the past year. The district's police chief was killed in an attack in Oct. 2018. The Afghan military launched a night raid against the Taliban in the district in June.

The Taliban's report of overrunning Mizan has not yet been confirmed by the major Afghan news outlets, however it was reported in the Afghan Islamic Press.

FDD's Long War Journal assesses the Taliban's claim as credible. Previous Taliban reports of overrunning districts have been highly accurate and later have proven to be true, while the Afghan government and military often attempt to downplay the Taliban's territorial gains.

The Afghan government's grip on Zabul is tenuous. Four of Zabul's 11 districts are controlled by the Taliban, six more are contested, and only one is under government control.

Zabul province is a known haven for al Qaeda, which remains closely allied with the Taliban to this day. Al Qaeda is known to have operated a base in Mizan district. In Sept. 2016, the Afghan National Directorate of Security raided an al Qaeda encampment in the district. A recent report by the United Nations identified Zabul as one of three provinces "with the most significant numbers" of al Qaeda operatives present (the other two are Badakhshan and Kunar).

Al Qaeda has long viewed Zabul as friendly territory. While the US drone campaign that targeted and killed al Qaeda leaders and operatives in Pakistan heated up in 2009 and 2010, Osama bin Laden advised the group to relocate key commanders and family to the provinces of Nuristan, Kunar, Ghazni, and Zabul.

[Source: By Bill Roggio, FDD's Long War Journal, NJ, 30Jul19]
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