Taliban video details takeover of eastern Afghan district

The Taliban released a propaganda video of its fighters battling to take control of the district of Jani Khel in Paktia province. The district fell to the Taliban last week, along with two others in different regions of Afghanistan.

The video, released by El Emarah Studio, a “part of Multimedia Branch the Cultural Commission Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan,” shows Taliban fighters fighting at “defensive check posts of the district center.” Taliban fighters are shown just after they overrun mountaintop bases surrounding the Jani Khel district center.

During the fighting, the Taliban killed at least one dozen Afghan security personnel and captured 10 more. The bodies of Afghan soldiers are presented in the video, while the leader of the Taliban in Jani Khel interviews the captured Afghan security personnel at the end.

The Taliban displayed US-supplied HUMVEES and Ranger pickup trucks used by the police and military that were captured or destroyed. The Taliban also seized a large quantity of rocket propelled grenade launchers, machine guns, rifles, mortars, and other weapons. Additionally, crates and cases of ammunition were also looted from the district center.

Jani Khel, which fell on July 25, remains under the control of the Taliban. Paktia province is a known stronghold of the Haqqani Network, the powerful Taliban subgroup that is based in eastern Afghanistan and in Pakistan’s tribal areas that is closely allied to al Qaeda.

Images from the Taliban video, entitled “Conquest of Jani Khel”

Bill Roggio is a Senior Fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies and the Editor of FDD's Long War Journal.

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6 Comments

  • Brian L. says:

    Now, now; no reason to be upset. As President Obama often reminded us, “this is how wars end”…..

  • Paddy Singh says:

    It’s Mutt & Jeff ( the US and the UK ) vs the Taliban who are far superior than the Afghan forces trained by these two guys. Secondly it shows that for almost a decade the Yanks went around with their blinkers on. “Job done’, was their constant refrain before cutting and running from Afghanistan. Both Obama and Cameron praised themselves while reminding the world what they had done for the country – NOTHING but pain and thousands of innocent lives lost.

  • Shawn Kneisel says:

    Something about “the Americans have the watch, but we have the time”.

  • irebukeu says:

    Obama? Seriously? He put 100,000 guys there. He took a lost war from Bush and made it worse. He did get Osama however, the only reason to be there and did so in a bold strike that showed jihadists everywhere they were not safe from American GLOVES.
    There is a good reason to still have a presence in Afghanistan post bin laden relating to the ability to strike targets in Pakistan but I do not feel that the ability is worth the risk/cost. Perhaps we could drop bombs off the space station or something. Some other way. Something..
    When did you think the war was not going to end this way? Did you ever? be fair to all parties. I voted for both presidents twice and both disappointed me in Afghanistan.
    Was it when Bush went in and hired the non existent “eastern shura” who, as quickly as they formed for the cash, became the same as those that never existed? The CIA told Bush the hired locals would let Osama slip out the back door! Our brand new buddies Pakistan also would do nothing to help, he was told. They sure were right about that. Bush went with Pakistani rangers and eastern shura shock troops over American rangers and the results spoke for themselves.
    Was it when the USA came riding into Pashtun lands with allies that flew flags with the hated Ahmad Shah Massouds face as an absolute HERO on their vehicles and even their uniforms and we said “trust these guys or else”? Was it then?
    Was it years later when he raised up American force levels to 20,000 because things were falling apart?
    In my opinion the war was lost from the start. In 2002, to me it looked like a looming disaster and it didn’t take long to come to that conclusion. Getting out or going small was the only answer to keeping American losses down. We didn’t go in to hit and run-we went in for the long war while lying to ourselves about it. Keeping American losses down seems to be the most important thing since 2002. There is no victory to be had there except extraction. Trumps defense secretary claims that we are ‘not winning’.
    Both presidents that Owned this war have failed. Their behavior was quite puzzling. Both claimed that we were winning with our western military intervention the entire time. Both were correct when they said that a Western military solution was not the answer. Go figure. This current president seems to think that a western military solution is the answer and is now sending in more troops,
    There are tired voices now in the senate sounding like they have had enough.
    John McCain, speaking to James Mattis says “Unless we get a strategy from you, you’re going to get a strategy from us” and “We want a strategy. I don’t think that’s a hell of a lot to ask.”
    It looks to me like John McCain, like Barry Goldwater, is getting ready to stand apart from his group. I would remind him that war is too serious a business to leave to the generals.
    and that we are almost out of this mouse trap now.
    That wasn’t an American base but I can clearly see hundreds of thousands of dollars in American money all borrowed, fluttering in the breeze. The answer will be more American money to retake, clear of mines, clean up and then replace all that junk. The locals will be paid more and more in a vain attempt to buy them off.
    Its not that you are wrong. The blame goes all around. We can just ignore for now how all this came about (COUGH**Carter, Reagan, Bush, Clinton COUGH**).
    These interventions never seem to go to well and never come in on budget.

  • Paul Cock says:

    It looks like Pakistan (our “good friend”) is winning from the corrupt government we placed there. No more export of democracy to those regions. Let them stick to their absurd Islamic fairy tales. It is better to make friends with Russia, at least we have some points in common with Russians.

  • Dirk D. says:

    There’s no way to *win* the Afghanistan conflict without accepting many more casualties. Drones will only get you so far. Since the American public and our leaders expect victory using technology as our main asset, we might as well close shop.

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