ISLAMABAD—A Taliban surge has put the insurgent force in control of key border posts, opened up fresh sources of revenue and rattled many of Afghanistan's neighbors.

In the Uzbek capital of Tashkent, a two-day regional meeting that begins Thursday was originally supposed to deal with "connectivity" in South and Central Asia, encouraging trade ties and transport issues. But it has morphed into a high-level gathering of senior US, Russian and EU officials that most certainly will be consumed with Afghanistan and the impact of the rapidly advancing Taliban.

In recent weeks, the Taliban have gained control of key border posts with neighbors Iran, Pakistan, Uzbekistan and Tajikistan.

In many instances, Afghanistan's security forces and military have put up little to no resistance, after often being left without resupplies or reinforcements. Two weeks ago, more than 1,000 Afghan military men fled across the border into Tajikistan. The Taliban did not pursue them.

The Taliban have also issued statements, including from their senior leader Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar, who negotiated last year's deal with the US, assuring Afghanistan's neighbors they have nothing to fear from the insurgent movement.

The Taliban surge comes as the US and NATO all but wind up their nearly 20 years in Afghanistan. Earlier this week, the US Central Command said the American withdrawal was 95 percent complete, after President Joe Biden's mid-April announcement that America was ending the "forever war."

The Tashkent meeting will have representatives of US Homeland Security as well as Washington's special Afghan peace envoy, Zalmay Khalilzad. Also attending are Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and European Union foreign policy chief Josep Borrell, as well as Afghan President Ashraf Ghani and Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan.

The five Central Asian States had a separate meeting with Elizabeth Sherwood-Randall, President Joe Biden's assistant for homeland security. Afghanistan figured prominently in their talks, which centered on ways to cooperate on regional security.

"Participants in the meeting voiced their adherence to creating stable conditions that would help peaceful settlement in Afghanistan," said a statement from the Turkmenistan foreign ministry following the meeting.

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