The Propaganda War Intensifies in Afghanistan as the Taliban Gain Ground
The New York Times
The effort to fend off panic and minimize losses has taken on outsize importance following the seizure of five provincial capitals by the Taliban.
KABUL, Afghanistan — First, a remote provincial capital in Afghanistan’s southwest fell. The next day, it was a city in Afghanistan’s north. By Sunday, Taliban fighters had taken three more cities, including their biggest prize yet, the major provincial capital of Kunduz. All the while, the Afghan central government has acknowledged very little of it. In three days, at least five provincial capitals have been seized by the Taliban, in a ruthless land offensive that has led many local officials to abandon their posts and flee the cities they run.
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