20 Years of Defense, Erased by the Taliban in a Few Months
May 5
August 14
Faizabad
Mazar-i-Sharif
Mazar-i-Sharif
Sheberghan
Taliqan
Kunduz
Aybak
Sar-i-Pul
100 Miles
Pul-i-Khumri
Some of the major cities seized by the Taliban
Qala-e-Naw
Kabul
Herat
Firoz Koh
Kabul
Afghanistan
Afghanistan
Pul-e-Alam
Ghazni
Farah
Kandahar
Lashkar Gah
Kandahar
Zaranj
Taliban-controlled districts
Contested-districts
Government-controlled
May 5
August 14
Mazar-i-Sharif
Faizabad
Mazar-i-Sharif
Sheberghan
Taliqan
Kunduz
Aybak
Sar-i-Pul
200 Miles
Pul-i-Khumri
Qala-e-Naw
Kabul
Herat
Firoz Koh
Kabul
Pul-e-Alam
Afghanistan
Afghanistan
Ghazni
Some of the major cities seized by the Taliban
Farah
Kandahar
Lashkar Gah
Kandahar
Zaranj
Taliban-controlled districts
Contested-districts
Government-controlled
May 5
Mazar-i-Sharif
200 Miles
Kabul
Afghanistan
Kandahar
August 14
Mazar-i-Sharif
Faizabad
Sheberghan
Taliqan
Kunduz
Aybak
Sar-i-Pul
Pul-i-Khumri
Qala-e-Naw
Kabul
Herat
Firoz Koh
Pul-e-Alam
Afghanistan
Ghazni
Some of the major cities seized by the Taliban
Farah
Kandahar
Lashkar Gah
Zaranj
Taliban-controlled districts
Contested-districts
Government-controlled
May 5
Mazar-i-Sharif
200 Miles
Kabul
Afghanistan
Kandahar
Taliban-controlled districts
Contested-districts
Government-controlled
August 14
Mazar-i-Sharif
Faizabad
Sheberghan
Taliqan
Kunduz
Aybak
Sar-i-Pul
Pul-i-Khumri
Qala-e-Naw
Kabul
Herat
Firoz Koh
Pul-e-Alam
Afghanistan
Ghazni
Farah
Some of the major cities seized by the Taliban
Kandahar
Lashkar Gah
Zaranj
Just a month ago, as President Biden defended his decision to end American involvement in Afghanistan, he said a Taliban takeover was not inevitable.
“Do I trust the Taliban? No,” Mr. Biden said. “But I trust the capacity of the Afghan military, who is better trained, better equipped and more competent in terms of conducting war.”
But in the last seven days, the single most stunning week in two decades of war, that military collapsed. Vital cities fell to the Taliban one after another. A sense of panic has taken hold. The Americans, who for years trained the Afghan forces and fought alongside them to hold off the Taliban, are evacuating most of the embassy in Kabul, the capital.
The brutal campaign by the Taliban to recapture the country gained ground earlier this year, when officers in rural outposts began to surrender. It picked up steam almost immediately after American troops began to withdraw, on May 1, and it has only accelerated since.
Taliban control surged after the U.S. withdrawal began
100%
Contested districts
Start of U.S. withdrawal
Government-controlled districts
Taliban-controlled districts
0
Jan. 2021
May 1
Aug. 14
100%
Contested
districts
Start of U.S.
withdrawal
Government-
controlled
districts
Taliban-
controlled
districts
0
Jan. 2021
May 1
Aug. 14
100%
Contested
districts
Start of U.S.
withdrawal
Government-controlled
districts
Taliban-controlled
districts
0
Jan. 2021
May 1
Aug. 14
As the Taliban attacked cities across the country, it was clear that government forces were exhausted, disorganized and, without American support, overmatched. Many cities collapsed without a shot being fired as forces surrendered or fled.
The Afghan government remains in control of just two major cities: Kabul and Jalalabad in the east. On Saturday night, the last major city in the country’s north, Mazar-i-Sharif, fell to the insurgents. Two more provinces, Uruzgan in the south and Zabul in central Afghanistan, are on the verge of collapse.
Here is how the Taliban took over most of the country since the United States started its withdrawal:
Taliban-controlled districtsContested districtsGovernment-controlled
May 3
May 11
May 25
Kabul
Kabul
Kabul
As U.S. troops began to withdraw, the government retained control of all 34 provincial capitals. But the Taliban began making headway in lightly defended rural districts.
The Taliban consolidated their control of major highways, cutting off government bases. More rural districts fell.
June 9
June 16
June 23
Kabul
Kabul
Kabul
Besieged Afghan forces realized that government promises of reinforcements and supplies are not forthcoming. Demoralized, they begin abandoning checkpoints and bases en masse.
June 30
July 7
July 13
Kabul
Kabul
Kabul
The Taliban dispatched village elders to deliver a message: Surrender or die. Many soldiers and police surrendered and handed over weapons in return for assurances of safety.
August 3
August 8
August 14
Kunduz
Kabul
Kabul
Kabul
Herat
Logar
Zaranj
Kandahar
Helmand
Taliban fighters intensified sieges of several provincial capitals. Government troops and officials began to abandon fortified compounds where they had long managed provincial affairs.
On August 6, after nearly 20 years of war, the first provincial capital fell to the Taliban: The small, remote city of Zaranj. Over the next week, 14 provincial capitals collapsed.
The Taliban captured the strategic southern provinces of Kandahar and Helmand, along with Herat Province on the Iranian border. The collapse of Kunduz and Logar provinces cleared a direct path to Kabul.
Taliban-controlled districtsContested districtsGovernment-controlled
May 3
May 11
May 25
Kabul
Kabul
Kabul
As U.S. troops began to withdraw, the government retained control of all 34 provincial capitals. But the Taliban began making headway in lightly defended rural districts.
The Taliban consolidated their control of major highways, cutting off government bases. More rural districts fell.
June 9
June 16
June 23
Kabul
Kabul
Kabul
Besieged Afghan forces realized that government promises of reinforcements and supplies are not forthcoming. Demoralized, they begin abandoning checkpoints and bases en masse.
June 30
July 7
July 13
Kabul
Kabul
Kabul
The Taliban dispatched village elders to deliver a message: Surrender or die. Many soldiers and police surrendered and handed over weapons in return for assurances of safety.
August 3
August 8
August 14
Kunduz
Kabul
Herat
Kabul
Kabul
Logar
Zaranj
Kandahar
Helmand
Taliban fighters intensified sieges of several provincial capitals. Government troops and officials began to abandon fortified compounds where they had long managed provincial affairs.
On August 6, after nearly 20 years of war, the first provincial capital fell to the Taliban: The small, remote city of Zaranj. Over the next week, 14 provincial capitals collapsed.
The Taliban captured the strategic southern provinces of Kandahar and Helmand, along with Herat Province on the Iranian border. The collapse of Kunduz and Logar provinces cleared a direct path to Kabul.
Taliban-controlled districts
Contested districts
Government-controlled
May 3
May 11
Kabul
Kabul
As U.S. troops began to withdraw, the government retained control of all 34 provincial capitals. But the Taliban began making headway in lightly defended rural districts.
The Taliban consolidated their control of major highways, cutting off government bases. More rural districts fell.
June 9
May 25
Kabul
Kabul
June 16
June 23
Kabul
Kabul
Besieged Afghan forces realized that government promises of reinforcements and supplies are not forthcoming. Demoralized, they begin abandoning checkpoints and bases en masse.
June 30
July 7
Kabul
Kabul
August 3
July 13
Kabul
Kabul
Taliban fighters intensified sieges of several provincial capitals. Government troops and officials began to abandon fortified compounds where they had long managed provincial affairs.
The Taliban dispatched village elders to deliver a message: Surrender or die. Many soldiers and police surrendered and handed over weapons in return for assurances of safety.
August 8
August 14
Kunduz
Kabul
Herat
Kabul
Logar
Zaranj
Kandahar
Helmand
On August 6, after nearly 20 years of war, the first provincial capital fell to the Taliban: The small, remote city of Zaranj. Over the next week, 14 provincial capitals collapsed.
The Taliban captured the strategic southern provinces of Kandahar and Helmand, along with Herat Province on the Iranian border. The collapse of Kunduz and Logar provinces cleared a direct path to Kabul.
Taliban-controlled districts
Contested districts
Government-controlled
May 3
Kabul
As U.S. troops began to withdraw, the government retained control of all 34 provincial capitals. But the Taliban began making headway in lightly defended rural districts.
May 11
Kabul
The Taliban consolidated their control of major highways, cutting off government bases. More rural districts fell.
May 25
Kabul
June 9
Kabul
June 16
Kabul
Besieged Afghan forces realized that government promises of reinforcements and supplies are not forthcoming. Demoralized, they begin abandoning checkpoints and bases en masse.
June 23
Kabul
June 30
Kabul
July 7
Kabul
July 13
Kabul
The Taliban dispatched village elders to deliver a message: Surrender or die. Many soldiers and police surrendered and handed over weapons in return for assurances of safety.
August 3
Kabul
Taliban fighters intensified sieges of several provincial capitals. Government troops and officials began to abandon fortified compounds where they had long managed provincial affairs.
August 8
Kabul
Zaranj
On August 6, after nearly 20 years of war, the first provincial capital fell to the Taliban: The small, remote city of Zaranj. Over the next week, 14 provincial capitals collapsed.
August 14
Kunduz
Kabul
Herat
Logar
Kandahar
Helmand
The Taliban captured the strategic southern provinces of Kandahar and Helmand, along with Herat Province on the Iranian border. The collapse of Kunduz and Logar provinces cleared a direct path to Kabul.
The Taliban had agreed, in a February 2020 deal with the United States, to negotiate with the Afghan government over the shape of a power-sharing government and a lasting ceasefire. It also broadly pledged to reduce violence, suspend mass-casualty attacks in cities and not attack American troops as they withdrew.
But there was no real mechanism to ensure that the Taliban honored those commitments.
While the Taliban did refrain from attacking U.S. troops and greatly reduced mass casualty attacks, most of the other pledges have not been met, according to American intelligence and Pentagon assessments.
The Taliban consolidated its control of major highways, levying taxes on motorists. It seized several border crossings and appropriated custom duties. And it intensified an assassination campaign, killing government officials, human rights and civil society activists, police officers, journalists and religious scholars.