SHAFAQNA- The UN special envoy for Afghanistan on Friday warned that War in Afghanistan is entering a deadlier and more destructive phase with more than 1,000 civilians killed in the past month during a Taliban offensive. “This is now a different kind of war, reminiscent of Syria, recently, or Sarajevo, in the not-so-distant past,” Lyons said.
“To attack urban areas is to knowingly inflict enormous harm and cause massive civilian casualties. Nonetheless, the threatening of large urban areas appears to be a strategic decision by the Taliban, who have accepted the likely carnage that will ensue,” she said, France 24 reported.
The Taliban control large swathes of the countryside and are now challenging Afghan government forces in several large cities, including Herat, near the western border with Iran, as well as Lashkar Gah and Kandahar in the south. The Taliban on Friday captured their first provincial capital since launching an offensive to coincide with the departure of foreign troops. The war has increasingly spilled into the capital Kabul too, with the Taliban shooting dead the head of the Afghan government’s media information on Friday, according to AlJazeera.