As for the Afghan security forces, it seems that they just gave up fighting. There are reports of Afghan troops in border areas fleeing into Uzbekistan, Iran and other countries, rather than fighting. “Everyone just surrendered their guns and ran away,” Rahimullah, a 25-year old soldier who joined the army a year ago and served in the Shahr-e-Bozorg district of northeastern Badakhshan province, told the Wall Street Journal. “We didn’t receive any help from the central government, and so the district fell without any fighting.”
The WSJ reports that the U.S.-sponsored peace talks in Doha allowed the Taliban to project themselves as a moderate, benevolent force just as President Ashraf Ghani’s political rivals in Kabul plotted to replace him with some sort of transitional administration that would facilitate a peace deal. Former President Hamid Karzai, in particular, tried to position himself as a neutral third force, frequently lashing out at Ghani and the U.S. “The government ended up completely isolating many people,” said Hekmat Karzai, a former deputy foreign minister and a cousin of the former President. “It became a self-licking ice cream fantasy. It just talked to itself and had very senior positions led by very inexperienced people who hardly understood the reality,” he said. “Do the troops have a reason to fight?” he asked. “I feel that the Taliban isn’t enormously strong. It’s that the government is in disarray.”
