Anyone else get the feeling the Afghans aren't being completely honest with us?
Via Long War Journal:
Afghanistan’s Ministry of Interior reported yesterday nine districts are under Taliban control, including four in the southern province of Helmand, and more than 40 others are heavily contested. The statement is an admission of the worsening security situation in Afghanistan since the last time the government disclosed such information one year ago.
“The districts are in the northeastern, southern and also other parts of Afghanistan. The enemy has increased its activities in those areas,” Ministry of Interior spokesman Sidiq Siddiqi said, according to TOLONews.
“No other area except those four districts is under the enemy control now,” Major General Mohammad Afzal Aman, the chief of operations for the Ministry of Defense told The New York Times then. […]
The nine districts controlled by the Taliban were identified this week as Now Zad, Musa Qala, Bagran, and Dishu in Helmand in the south; Nawa district in Ghazni and Khak Afghan district in Zabul provinces in the southeast; Warduj and Yamgan districts in Badakhshan in the northeast; and Kohistanat district in Sar-i-Pul in the north. The number contested districts, which were described by TOLONews as districts “facing serious security threats,” were not identified.
The Afghan government is likely still underestimating the extent of Taliban control throughout Afghanistan. For instance, the Taliban is known to have seized Char Chino district in Uruzgan on June 16 and there is no indication that Afghan forced ejected the Taliban.
The Taliban currently control 39 districts in Afghanistan and contest another 43, according to data compiled by The Long War Journal (see map above). Districts under Taliban command are being administered by the group, or the group controls the district center. Typically the Taliban dominates all of the areas of a district except the administrative center in contested districts. The Taliban likely controls or contests more districts displayed on the map above, however the districts listed on the map are ones that can be confirmed via independent sources such as Taliban claims, government reports, and news reports.