The Taliban militants have overrun four security checkpoints in Sanglakh valley of Jalriz district in Maidan Wardak province, a source said on Wednesday, May 19.
Mehdi Rasikh, an MP who represents Maidan Wardak, said in a Facebook post that the Taliban overran security checkpoints in Sanglakh valley from where they attempted to seize the district.
The militants have started a house-to-house search for weapons while calling on security forces to surrender, the MP says.
A number of security forces have lost their lives to battle but their dead bodies are laying in the site where the militants maintain tight control.
The strategic Jalriz district is often disputed between the government forces and the Taliban militants despite the fact that the Afghan security forces maintain loose control over the district.
The Taliban will advance northwards if Jalriz falls in the hands of the militants, the MP warned.
Fawad Aman, the deputy spokesperson for the Ministry of Defense (MoD), however, has denied Taliban’s takeover of Sanglakh valley. He told Kabul Now that fighting was underway between the Afghan security and defense forces and the militants.
No causality has been reported on either side.
The Taliban has not made any comment in this regard.
On March 29, the army forces launched a clearing operation on Kabul-Bamyan Highway in Jalriz district. The operation, however, stopped a few days later after the Taliban claimed to have pushed the government forces back.
