ISLAMABAD, Aug 8 (KUNA) -- Taliban rebels on Sunday managed to capture three more provincial capitals of Afghanistan's Jawzjan, Kunduz and Sar-e-Pul provinces, two days after they took over the city of Zaranj, the capital of Afghanistan's southwestern Nimroz province.
According to the local Pajhwok news, Taliban seized the governor's house, the central jail and some other parts of the provincial capital of northern Kunduz province on Sunday. It further said that the Taliban attacked different parts of the provincial capital in the morning and gained control of Chawk-i-Markazi and some other parts of the city.
The Commander of the 2nd Battalion of the Special Forces in the province, Taj Mohammad in a statement to the media confirmed that the insurgents had been attacking the city for the past 24 hours.
The spokesperson for the Taliban group, Zabihullah Mujahid also told media that they had seized the governor's house, police headquarters, prison, intelligence department and other areas. Afghan security forces are striving to recapture the areas lost. Local media quoted health officials as saying that 14 bodies, including those of women and children, and more than 30 injured people had been taken to the hospital in Kunduz.
Hours after the fall of Kunduz, Taliban also captured the capital of Sar e Pul province in the north. Taliban spokesperson in a statement to media claimed that their fighters also captured Sar-e-Pul city, where government buildings and all the installations there.
Afghan Ministry of Defence in a statement said government forces were fighting to retake key installations. "The commando forces have launched a clearing operation. Some areas, including the national radio and TV buildings, have been cleared of the terrorist Taliban," said a ministry statement.
Last Friday, the Taliban seized their first provincial capital, Zaranj in southwestern Nimroz on the border with Iran, and followed it up by taking Sheberghan in northern Jawzjan province a day later. The provincial capital fell to the Taliban after one week of clashes and security forces are now stationed only at the provincial airport in Khwaja Dako district. Sheberghan is the stronghold of former vice president Marshal Abdul Rashid Dostum, whose militiamen and government forces were reported to have retreated to the airport.
The Taliban have taken over four provincial capitals since Friday in the aggressive offensives launched countrywide. Kunduz could be considered as the most significant gain so far as the Taliban briefly overran the city in 2015 and again in 2016. Fighting was also reported on the outskirts of Herat in the west, and Lashkar Gah and Kandahar in the south.
American troops have conducted several airstrikes in defence of Afghan security forces and bombed Taliban positions in Sheberghan. The offensives came at a time when the withdrawal of foreign forces from Afghanistan is due to be complete at the end of this month. (end) sbk.hb