KABUL (SW) – The Taliban insurgents claimed to have overrun five more districts nationwide amid ensuing violence.
In the past week alone, the group claimed to have taken control of Suzma Qala district in Sar-e-Pul province, Ashkamish and Chah-e-Ab districts in Takhar province, Arghanjkhah in Badakhshan, Tulak in Ghor province and Khan Abad district in Kunduz province.
In the meantime, the group also vowed to have taken control of parts of Kunduz’s Aliabad district, Farah’s Lashawjoin district, as well as Ghor’s Saghar district.
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Security sources and civilians in Ghor’s Saghar district said the district was captured by the Taliban without any resistance by the security forces. According to sources, the Taliban are currently in control of the district administration compound and police headquarters, but local officials and Taliban groups have not yet commented.
Meanwhile, Ghulam Rabbani, a member of the Kunduz Provincial Council, said that as a result of the Taliban’s attack on Aliabad district, the district center, including the security post, was taken over by the insurgents.
According to Rabbani, security forces retreated to the police headquarters and the district headquarters.
Inamuddin Rahmani, a spokesman for the Kunduz police chief, confirmed reports of heavy fighting between security forces and the Taliban, but said the Aliabad district center had not collapsed. According to Rahmani, in the last one week, the Taliban are defeated with heavy casualties. He said operations to retake lost areas will begin in the near future.
This morning, however, the Taliban vowed to take control of Khanabad district of Kunduz province.
In Farah province, Taliban insurgents attacked Lashawjoin district, as a result of which the district fell to the Taliban. At the same time, Farah police spokesman Farooq Hazrati said the Taliban attacked the Pushtrod district of the province at the same time last night. He said the Taliban’s attack on the district has been thwarted.
Meanwhile, in another incident, seven security personnel were killed in a Taliban attack on parts of Herat’s Obe district.
Zia-ul-Haq Noori, Obe district chief of Herat province, told Salam Watandar that the Taliban had attacked Obe district from several directions since 9pm last night and that the district center was currently under siege by the Taliban.
Herat Governor Syed Abdul Wahid Qatali confirmed the Taliban’s widespread attacks in the Obe district of the province and said that there were enough security forces against the Taliban in the district.
Meanwhile, the Zafar Corps of the army in the western part of the country said in a statement that nine Taliban fighters, including a Taliban-designated district chief, were killed in last night’s attacks in the Obe district of Herat province. .
It was also reported from Zabul province that last night the security forces left Shah Arghandab district center of the province and moved to another place.
Zabul Provincial Council Chairman Atajan Haqbian said that last night the security forces withdrew from the district and the district was completely taken over by the Taliban.
Meanwhile, Taliban insurgents attacked security checkpoints in the Shulgara district of northern Balkh province, killing and wounding several soldiers.
Shulgara district chief Mohammad Shafi Safi told Salam Watandar that the government forces have moved out as a strategic retreat. He said two soldiers were wounded in the clash between the Taliban and security forces.
Meanwhile, a spokesman for the Shaheen Corps of the army, Mohammad Hanif Rezaee, said the situation in the area had returned to normal. He added the Taliban attacked a supply line for the security forces.
Despite many efforts, it was not possible to get the opinion of the officials of the Ministry of Defense in this report.
But, Abdul Hadi Nazari, a spokesman for the Pamir Corps of the army in Kunduz, said the districts in the northeastern provinces that had fallen to the Taliban were previously controlled by police, local militia and NDS forces. Nazari said they were coordinating with other forces to carry out operations to retake the Ishkamish district of Takhar and some other lost areas.
Following the withdrawal of foreign troops from Afghanistan in early May, Taliban attacks have increased and the group has been able to take control of several military bases and districts during this period.
ENDS
