MOSCOW -- The Taliban claimed Friday that they now control 85% of Afghanistan's territory during a surge of victories and as American troops complete their pullout from the war-battered country.
Also Friday, Taliban forces penetrated Kandahar, the country's second-largest city, in a new phase of a sweeping offensive that has captured territory across the country since May 1.
The announcement was made at a news conference at the end of a visit by a senior Taliban delegation to Moscow this week -- a trip meant to offer assurances that the insurgents' quick gains in Afghanistan do not threaten Russia or its allies in Central Asia.
The claim, which is impossible to verify, was considerably higher than previous Taliban statements that more than a third of the country's 421 districts and district centers were in their control. There was no immediate response from the government in Kabul.
Earlier this week, Taliban advances forced hundreds of Afghan soldiers to flee across the border into Tajikistan, which hosts a Russian military base. Tajikistan in turn called up 20,000 military reservists to strengthen its southern border with Afghanistan. Russian officials have expressed concern that the Taliban surge could destabilize the ex-Soviet Central Asian nations north of Afghanistan.
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Since mid-April, when President Joe Biden announced the end to America's role in Afghanistan's "forever war," the Taliban have made strides throughout the country. They recently swept through dozens of districts, often taking control without a fight. Over the past week, they seized border crossings with Tajikistan, Uzbekistan and Iran.
However, at the Moscow conference, the Taliban promised not to attack provincial capitals or seize them, and expressed hopes for a "political resolution" with Kabul.
"We will not seize provincial capitals in order not to inflict death on Afghan citizen," said Taliban negotiator Mawlawi Shahabuddin Delawar.
Guarantees for that have been presented to the Afghan authorities, along with demands for the release of more Taliban prisoners from Afghan jails, Delawar said.
The Taliban also vowed they would "not allow anyone, any individual, any entity to use the soil of Afghanistan against the neighboring country, regional country and world country, including the United States and its allies."
"We don't want to fight. We want to find a political resolution through political negotiations," said Taliban spokesman Mohammad Sohail Shaheen.
CHINESE EVACUATE
Meanwhile, China sent a flight to return home 210 of its citizens from Afghanistan, state media outlets reported Friday, as the security situation grows increasingly fraught.
The Global Times newspaper published by the ruling Communist Party said the Xiamen Airlines flight departed Kabul on July 2 and landed in the central province of Hubei. The airline confirmed the report in a post on its Twitter-like Weibo account but offered no additional details.
The Global Times and other reports said 22 of those onboard tested positive for the coronavirus.
Chinese companies have invested in Afghan mining and infrastructure, but those assets appear increasingly in jeopardy.
Afghanistan security issues will be discussed at a meeting next week of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, which is led by China and Russia, Foreign Ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin said at a briefing Friday.
KANDAHAR OFFENSIVE
The Taliban had been encroaching on Kandahar, the capital of the province of the same name, for several weeks, capturing surrounding districts, before entering the city for the first time Friday.
Taliban fighters entered Kandahar's Seventh Police District, seizing houses and fighting with security forces, said Bahir Ahmadi, spokesperson for the Kandahar governor. Commandos and other special forces units were battling the insurgents well into the evening, proceeding cautiously because the area is heavily populated, Ahmadi said.
During the fighting, the Afghan air force struck a number of Taliban positions in neighboring districts.
The attack took place less than 24 hours after Biden defended his decision to end American involvement in Afghanistan, asserting that the United States can no longer afford the human cost or strategic distraction of a 20-year conflict that he said had strayed far from its initial mission.
Information for this article was contributed by Daria Litvinov, Nasser Karimi, Kathy Gannon, Vladimir Isachenkov and additional staff members of The Associated Press; and by Adam Nossiter of The New York Times.
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