Afghanistan Endgame: Taliban seize abandoned American army bases.

the taliban are on the march and gaining territory at an astonishing rate we've been invited to meet them inside their own base they want to show us as foreign journalists how strong they are and also how they're in no mood to compromise the departure of the bulk of the american and other nato forces has emboldened them and they smell victory one commander in warduk province told me they would never work alongside the other groups in government as a real afghan we would never do that because they are the people who are killing and kidnapping who are thieves and who are corrupt so we'll never work with them we're the first foreign journalists to see the latest army base the taliban have captured in the province and they want to show us the treasure trove of military riches they've seized with it many of these boxes supplied by the americans hadn't even been opened before the taliban got hold of them can anyone believe that the taliban wants peace when you've you've got all these weapons now most of the time we don't rely on all of this we just rely on allah but it does help us a lot and it's given us a lot of new weapons we can use in battle of course we want peace more people want peace here but the government doesn't want peace with us from this base alone the taliban say they seized about 900 guns 30 humvees and 20 army pickup trucks it's a whole pile of of destroyed vehicles military vehicles there and a huge area that they've managed to take over i think this the taliban will see this and view this as a substantial victory and it follows a nationwide pattern of afghan soldiers putting up only a half-hearted fight many of the fighters we saw were carrying new weapons seized during the taking of the base the white flag that signifies the taliban takeover is flying in large swathes of the country right now and they're creeping closer to the capital our journey on route to the taliban was halted this is a crucial highway which the taliban have been trying to get control of the afghan army brought in reinforcements to push them back but the fact that the taliban have got so close to the capital yeah they're making gains the taliban are winning the propaganda war able to plant and detonate roadside bombs with few reassurances from the government about how they're going to regain control instead in taliban controlled areas they blame the afghan national army for injuries and insecurity we saw no women at all out in public although the taliban insist they've progressed and want their girls educated do you all welcome the taliban being here because it's so much safer now the taliban have brought us security and peace he says the taliban paint themselves as deeply religious and say they're fighting for an islamic emirate based on a strict interpretation of sharia law like so many others this former prisoner jailed by the americans immediately rejoined the fight on his release the only thing that will persuade me to put down my gun is if there's islamic law here based entirely on islam and the government is run according to islamic rules the taliban resurgence appears to have real momentum and that's worrying for the afghan government and its international allies who are now watching all the military hardware they handed over ending up in the hands of the group they're meant to be used against the government is seen as weak and deeply unpopular in areas particularly where the taliban have managed to take a hold can you work with any of them they are nothing anything you're nothing and this we will destroy three we all we are going to uh destroy our country they they come they bring bad bad situation for afghans for our people for our civilized for our country for our schools for our hospitals everything they destroyed and this while peace talks are meant to be ongoing and all the while the taliban seem to be growing stronger and that will surely lessen their desire to do any deals

Channel: Sky News

Views: 2,171,074

Keywords: Taliban, American, Alex cRawford, Afghanistan, afghan, military, army, troops, war, Al-Qaeda, Isis, afghanistan, militia

Id: f37xrmiqmnU

Length: 5min 21sec (321 seconds)

Published: Mon Jul 05 2021