The Taliban have overrun Qaisar district, 62 kilometers away from Maimana, capital city of Faryab province, killing the district’s police chief along with a number of security forces, a local official confirmed.
Sebghatullah Selab, deputy chief of Faryab Provincial Council, said the militants have taken over administrative complex of the district and its police headquarter. More than 40 army forces and members of People Uprising Force – a pro-government militia – are missing, he added.
Initial reports suggest that the Taliban have killed Saif ur Rahman Dehzad, police chief of the district, along with his comrades after taking them as captives, Mr. Selab emphasized.
Abdul Mannan Qate, a member of Faryab Provincial Council, confirmed the district’s police chief was killed along with a number of security forces. He added that six police soldiers were wounded in clashes with the militants.
Mr. Qate detailed that nearly 20 government forces who had stationed in municipal building of the district have surrendered to the Taliban. According to him, the Taliban have blown up the district’s police headquarter and clashes are currently ongoing between the two sides inside the district’s administrative building.
He warned that the district’s administrative building will also fall to the Taliban if the army do not launch airstrikes against the militants.
The Taliban, however, claimed that Qaysar police headquarter and a number of security checkpoints have fallen to the militant group.
Yousuf Ahmadi, Taliban spokesman, claimed that as many as 30 security forces have surrendered to the group.
Located in north of the country, Faryab is a volatile province where the Taliban control swathes of territories and occasionally launch complex attacks against government forces.
The Taliban have recently increased their attacks to take over more territories.
The militants have reportedly taken control of five districts in Urozgan, Ghazni, Zabul, and Nooristan provinces since last Thursday, June 03.
