US, Afghan's neighbors scramble to address Taliban surge

A Taliban surge has put the insurgents in control of key border posts, opened up fresh sources of revenue and rattled many of Afghanistan's neighbors

ISLAMABAD -- A Taliban surge has put the insurgent force in control of key border posts, opened up fresh sources of revenue and rattled many of Afghanistan’s neighbors. In the Uzbek capital of Tashkent, a two-day regional meeting that begins Thursday was originally supposed to deal with “connectivity” in South and Central Asia, encouraging trade ties and transport issues. But it has morphed into a high-level gathering of senior U.S., Russian and EU officials that most certainly will be consumed with Afghanistan and the impact of the rapidly advancing Taliban. In recent weeks, the Taliban have gained control of key border posts with neighbors Iran, Pakistan, Uzbekistan and Tajikistan. In many instances, Afghanistan’s security forces and military have put up little to no resistance, after often being left without resupplies or reinforcements. Two weeks ago, more than 1,000 Afghan military men fled across the border into Tajikistan. The Taliban did not pursue them.