Afghan City in Panic After News of Taliban Advance

KABUL - With seven family members to feed, Abdul Khaliq needed the money. But Monday morning, his small fruit cart in Mazar-e-Sharif in northern Afghanistan remained devoid of customers. Now the presence of commandos in Kod-Barq area of Dehdadi district, #Balkh province. The terrorists attack on district repulsed; dozens #terrorists were killed and wounded in reciprocal operation of #commandos and Public Resistance Forces. pic.twitter.com/PjpzcywAFy

“There is no business. There is fighting. ... I am here since the morning, but I can’t make any money. People have nothing,” he told VOA. Business in the capital of Balkh province came to a standstill, and shops started shutting down after news spread that the Taliban were advancing. The militants had already captured five provincial capitals in the north or northeast of the country since Friday. Monday morning, pro-Taliban social media accounts began saying the militants had attacked Mazar from four sides. The claim was false — the only fighting reported was some 20 kilometers from the city near an army base in Dihdadi District — but the rumor traveled fast. For the population of Mazar, which had heard about the collapse of five nearby provincial capitals within two days, 20 kilometers was not far enough.