The Taliban took control of 10 more districts in Baghlan, Zabul, Jowzjan, Urozgan, Paktia, and Kunduz provinces including Sher Khan Bandar port in the northeastern Kunduz province, local officials confirmed.
Safdar Mohseni, chairman of Baghlan Provincial Council, confirmed to Kabul Now that Baghlan Markazi and Nahrain districts have fallen to the Taliban. He did not provide casualty on the either side but detailed heavy fighting is still underway between the two sides in Baghlan-e-Markazi.
In the southern Zabul province, the Taliban have overrun Shahjoy district after government forces retreated from the district’s center to Qalat, provincial capital of Zabul, without any resistance against the militants, according to Dur Mohammad Qiyam, a member of Zabul Provincial Council.
Abdul Hai Hayat, a member of the northern Jowzjan Provincial Council, confirmed to Kabul Now that the militants have overrun Qarqin and Khamab districts. The army forces retreated from the districts to Sheberghan, provincial capital of Jowzjan, without showing resistance against the militants.
The Taliban militants have also taken control of Chura district in the southern Urozgan province after the government force abandoned the district’s center, according to Ahmad Shah Sahel, spokesperson for the province’s governor.
The militants also captured Gul Tapa and Char Dara district of the northeastern Kunduz province after a heavy clash against the government forces, as per account of Amruddin Wali, a member of Kunduz Provincial Council.
He confirmed the militants have taken control of Sher Khan commercial port in Imam Sahib district of the province as well.
It is a key port through which links Afghanistan to Central Asian Countries, particularly with Dushanbe, capital of Tajikistan.
Ahmad Khel and Lazha Mangal districts of the eastern Paktia province have also fallen to the Taliban, according to Abul Malik Zazai, a member of Paktia Provincial Council.
The Taliban also claimed taking control of Jaghatu district in Maidan Wardak and Maiwand district in Kandahar province.
The local sources however denied the allegation made by the militants.
They, however, confirmed that heavy fighting is underway in the centers of the two districts warning that they will collapse into the hand of the militants if a timely reinforcement is not made.
With the newly reclaimed districts, the total number of districts fallen to the Taliban since May 01, beginning of foreign troops withdrawal, across the country reaches 63.
