 The Arabs now launched repeated attacks on the breach, with Afshin, Ashinas, and Itakh taking turns in leading their men in attack, but the defenders held firm.In the event, the city fell by treachery in mid-August, when the Byzantine officer commanding the breach tried to open up separate negotiations with al-Mu'tasim, and the Abbasids used the lull in order to launch a surprise attack.Despite his successes, Afshin's star began to decline, apparently as a result of his jealousy towards `Abdallah bin Taher, the governor of Khorasan who Afshin apparently regarded as an upstart and a rival for power in Transoxania.