June Was Deadliest Month In Afghanistan In Two Decades Amid US Exit

Authored by Jason Ditz via AntiWar.com,

A major Taliban offensive has been raging in Afghanistan, particularly in the north, for weeks on end. The latest figures from Afghanistan’s TOLOnews puts June at a troubling height of the war, the deadliest single month in 20 years.

Violence was staggeringly high throughout this period, though exact death tolls for individual days are often in dispute, making the totals, while undoubtedly huge, somewhat in doubt.

The news, culled from government reports, had 638 people who were either military or civilians killed in the fighting, and over 6,000 Taliban also killed in just a single month.

This centers on Afghanistan’s government always reporting many more Taliban killed than their own soldiers, but the trend on the ground was opposite, with the Taliban making massive gains over the government.

National English-language newspaper TOLOnews writes:

In the latest development, the Taliban has captured the center of Tagab district in the northern province of Kapisa….

“The main reason for the collapse of the districts is poor leadership at the leadership level of the security and defense forces,” said MP Khan Agha Rezayee.

Based on the figures, although the number of targeted attacks and explosions decreased during this period, the level of casualties among the security personnel and civilians continued to rise.

As America withdraws from Afghanistan, we will he able to assess the impact of 20 years of US-led “reform of the Greater Middle East” https://t.co/ldyUdFP7rH

— Joshua Landis (@joshua_landis) July 2, 2021

120 districts have been evacuated in the face of the Taliban offensive, and they’ve reached provincial capitals in at least three provinces, contested cities big and small across the region. The Afghan security forces are losing ground consistently.