Afghanistan requests return of soldiers who fled to Iran

The Afghan government has asked Iran to return members of its military who fled across the border to escape the approach of Taliban fighters. 

Earlier this week, Taliban forces captured the Islam Qala crossing between Afghanistan and Iran and removed the Afghan flag from atop the border customs office. 

According to a source in the Iranian armed forces, Iran agreed to the Afghan government request and had scheduled a flight to Kabul for the soldiers who fled. 

The Islam Qala crossing is a vital trade route for Afghanistan, with the gateway generating around $20 million per month in revenues for the government. 

The loss of the border crossing was acknowledged on Friday by a spokesman for the interior ministry. 

“All Afghan security forces including the border units are present in the area, and efforts are under way to recapture the site,” the spokesman told AFP. 

A spokesman for the Taliban, Zabihullah Mujahid, said that the border crossing was “under our full control”.

Also commenting on the situation, Iran’s customs administration said that the Taliban have seized two border crossings with Iran, the Islam Qala crossing, and the Abu Nazr Farahi crossing. 

The seizure of the crossing points has reportedly led to a suspension of trade. 

Earlier gains by the Taliban at the expense of Afghan government forces saw over 1,000 soldiers flee across the border into Tajikistan.

Amid the withdrawal of foreign forces from Afghanistan, the Taliban are capturing wide swathes of territory across the country

Taliban officials claim that they have captured 85 percent of Afghanistan's territory, a figure that the Afghan government disputes. 

Recently, Iran have been active in trying to broker a deal between the Taliban and the Afghan government.

Talks on Thursday resulted in a statement calling for “more consultations on the mechanisms of transition from war to lasting peace, and the formation of an Islamic regime that enjoys the approval of all during the next conference, which will be held as soon as possible.”