Afghan Taliban advance towards Kabul, 95 miles away
Shares
GHAZNI: The fall of Khawaja Omari district to the Afghan Taliban extends their territory closer to the provincial capital, also called Ghazni, a city of 150,000 people 95 miles southwest of the Afghan capital, Kabul.
Taliban captured the district in Afghanistan’s Ghazni province near the provincial capital early on Thursday and killed the district’s governor, a police official said.
Ghazni’s Khawaja Omari district was considered one of the province’s safest districts.
The militants killed district governor Ali Dost Shams <link>, his bodyguards, seven police officers and five government intelligence agents, said Ramazan Ali Mohseni, deputy police chief in Ghazni.
The Taliban <link> then torched the district headquarters, he said.
Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said in a statement 20 police officers were killed in the attack.
Fighting in Afghanistan traditionally increases in the spring when warmer weather melts snow blocking mountain passes, increasing the mobility of the insurgents.
