Taliban capture 2 key ports in western Afghanistan

Taliban militants captured two key commercial ports in Afghanistan’s western province of Herat, officials said on Friday.

Islam Qala, one of the country’s main commercial ports on the Afghan-Iranian border, fell to the Taliban without any resistance from the security forces, provincial council member Habib Hashimi and parliamentarian Reza Khusak Watandost said.

According to the councilor, the government’s revenue from the customs of the port was more than 3.7 million dollars per day in spite of the rampant corruption there.

All commercial activities were now being stopped at the port, the officials said.

In the meantime, the Taliban has also captured another key port in the province, Torghundi in the north, on the border with neighboring Turkmenistan, the official said.

Torghundi was a key transit route for Afghanistan as the country imports many of its gas, fuel, and other oil products from the country.

The port was also a key exporting route of Afghan products to global markets including Europe.

In spite of the advance of the Taliban, U.S. troops were to complete their withdrawal from Afghanistan by Aug. 31, U.S. President Joe Biden said on Thursday.

Biden acknowledged that the Taliban had become stronger than ever since their regime was toppled in 2001, but said their rise could still be stopped, adding that the Afghan security forces had been well trained.

On Tuesday, the U.S. Pentagon said that U.S. forces had completed more than 90 percent of their withdrawal process.