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Former Afghan jihadist leader establishes militia against Taliban — report

Currently, the militia only covers the western part of Herat

TEHRAN, July 9. /TASS/. Mohammad Ismail Khan, a former jihadist leader in Afghanistan’s Herat Province, has effectively established a militia to fight the Taliban movement (outlawed in Russia), Tolo News TV channel reported Friday.

Earlier, the media reported that Khan urged the population to fight against the Taliban and declared a mobilization. According to Khan himself, "hundreds of armed people joined the ‘People’s Resistance Front’ and entered the battlefield to fight the Taliban."

Currently, the militia only covers the western part of Herat. In the future, it plans to ensure security along the province’s borders and liberate other districts from the radicals.

According to Tolo News, the Taliban captured eight more districts of Herat in the past 24 hours, including a customs office and a border crossing. Out of 19 administrative units in the Herat Province, only two remain under the government’s control, while the rest surrendered to the Taliban without resistance.

The military and political situation in Afghanistan deteriorated amid the almost complete withdrawal of the Western coalition, led by the US. Newly-appointed Afghan Armed Forces Commander Mohammad Ahmadzai said that the Army will focus on the protection of the main cities, as well as border crossings and highways used for transportation of goods, from the Taliban, and then begin an offensive on other cities and districts.

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