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UN reports veteran al Qaeda leader likely back in action in Afghanistan
The U.S. captured al Qaeda key commander Abu Ikhlas al Masri in 2010. He was freed from Bagram prison after the Taliban takeover in 2021, and is thought to have reformed an Al Qaeda unit.
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Taliban takes control of Afghan provincial capitals of Kunduz, Sar-i-Pul and Taloqan
The Taliban took control of the provincial capitals of Kunduz and Sar-i-Pul cities, while Taloqan, the capital of Takhar, is under direct threat. Four provincial capitals have now fallen under Taliban control in the past three days.
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Taliban parades forces in Logar province
In Logar province, a large Taliban convoy that carried the Taliban’s shadow governor paraded through a town unopposed by Afghan and Coalition forces.
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Taliban touts more elite ‘Red Unit’ fighter training on social media
The Taliban again highlighted the Red Unit, the group’s special operations unit that spearheads its assaults throughout Afghanistan.
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Training of ‘Quick Assault Team’ highlighted by Taliban
The Taliban continues to churn out propaganda that touts the training of its elite military units, even as the US seeks to negotiate its exit from Afghanistan.
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Afghan forces suffer heavy casualties in Kunduz
The Red Unit, the Taliban’s version of special forces that operates throughout Afghanistan and is often at the tip of the spear of assaults on district centers, military bases and outposts, is said to have initiated the fighting in Dasht-i-Archi district. At least 30 Afghan soldiers were killed during the assault.
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German captured while fighting with Taliban’s Red Unit
The Afghan military said it captured a German citizen who was fighting in Helmand province and belonged to the Taliban’s Red Unit, which serves as an elite unit that spearheads attacks on Afghan forces.
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US killed commander of Taliban’s ‘Red Unit’
Mullah Shah Wali, the leader of the Red Unit’s forces in Helmand , was killed in a US airstrike in the Taliban-controlled district of Musa Qala. The Red Unit has served as the Taliban’s shock troops and special forces.
