Footage shows armed Taliban members standing on a military vehicle in the streets of Herat (representative)
Herat, Afghanistan:
A month ago, one of Afghanistan’s most famous warlords vowed to defend his city from the Taliban when he called on locals to join the fight.
But on Friday, Ismail Khan was in Taliban hands as militants patrolled the dusty streets of Herat, his old fief and the country’s third-largest city.
The “Lion of Herat” has been a huge figure in Afghanistan’s tumultuous modern history, initially emerging as one of the most powerful mujahideen rebel figures fighting the Soviets in the 1980s and 1990s.
From Herat, his massive militia went on to have a string of successes against the Taliban when the hardline Islamist group came to power.
But he was forced to flee to Iran with thousands of his men in 1995 after an ally defected to the insurgents.
He was imprisoned by the Taliban in 1997 when he returned to stage an insurgency, escaped prison two years later and was free until the US invasion in 2001.
Khan was then a minister in the government of former President Hamid Karzai, although in recent years he was known for running Herat as his own territory.
Last month, he expressed his defiance and anger when he vowed to defeat the Taliban.
“We will soon go to the front lines and with the help of God change the situation,” Khan told a news conference
“We hope that the men and women of Herat will decide at this time to support the resistance front to defend their freedom and protect their honour,” Khan said.
He blamed the government for the rapidly deteriorating situation and urged the military to show more backbone.
“We demand that all remaining security forces stand up boldly.”
But on Friday morning, the people of Herat awoke to new rulers, with no visible signs of struggle in the streets and no resistance from Khan.
A group of insurgents pulled an Afghan flag from a police station as cars and bicycles passed by in apparently normal traffic.
Others stood on the hood of a humvee vehicle abandoned by retreating government forces.
One insurgent smiled as he looked into a camera, with a rocket-propelled grenade on his shoulder.
The white Taliban flag flew in the air on a pole attached to a motorcycle.
As in other cities lost to the Taliban in the past week, authorities claimed they were giving it up to prevent civilian bloodshed.
“We had to leave the city to avoid further destruction,” a senior security source from Herat told AFP, adding that troops and city officials had withdrawn to army barracks outside Herat.
Khan remained in the city, although under the control of the Taliban.
The Taliban said they had captured him and posted a video online of the warlord in a car making platitudes about peace.
His spokesman later told reporters that Khan had been allowed to return to his hometown after negotiations with the Taliban.
But details were not immediately clear about the deal between the Taliban and one of Afghanistan’s ultimate political survivors.
(This story was not edited by NewsMadura staff and was generated automatically from a syndicated feed.)
