Ghani delivers televised address to Afghans amid Taliban advance

Afghan President Ashraf Ghani, in a televised address to the nation, has promised not to allow the loss of ‘what has been achieved over the past 20 years,’ Report informs referring to Reuters.

“As your president, my focus is on preventing further instability, violence, and displacement of my people,” Ghani said in a brief televised address, adding that he was consulting the government, elders, politicians, and international leaders.

He gave no sign of responding to a Taliban demand that he resign for any talks on a ceasefire and a political settlement, saying his priority remained the consolidation of the country’s security and defense forces.

“Serious measures are being taken in this regard,” he said, without elaborating.

He spoke soon after the insurgents, facing little resistance, took Pul-e-Alam, capital of Logar province and 70 km (40 miles) south of Kabul, according to a local, provincial council member, who spoke to Reuters on condition of anonymity.

The gain of the city, a staging post for a potential assault on Kabul, comes a day after the insurgents took the country’s second- and third-biggest cities. The Taliban says it is close to capturing Maidan Shahr, another town close to Kabul on the main highway to the southern hub of Kandahar.