The Taliban on Saturday claimed to have overrun at least five districts invarious parts of war-ravaged Afghanistan amid escalating violence.
The group’s spokesman, Zabihullah Mujahed, stated in a series of tweetsthat the Taliban seized control of these districts in the southernprovinces of Zabul and Uruzgan, as well as the central and easternprovinces of Ghazni and Nuristan, respectively.
The country’s Interior Ministry, however, rejected the Taliban’s claims,with spokesman Tariq Arian telling Anadolu Agency that the security forcesonly went on a “strategic retreat” in Zabul.
Prior to this, the Taliban claimed to have taken control of four districtsin the Maidan Wardak, Baghlan, and Laghman provinces, which Afghanofficials dubbed a “strategic retreat” in order to save civilian casualties.
This comes a little over three months before the complete departure of theUS forces from Afghanistan, which already started on May 1, 2021.
Ensuing violence
In the past 24 hours, at least 20 Afghan security forces were killed inthree different provinces of the country, local officials confirmed toAnadolu Agency.
Zabihullah Atiq, a parliament member from the northern Badakhshan provincebordering Tajikistan, said in a social media post that 12 pro-governmentmilitiamen were killed in an air raid by the government forces.
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According to Atiq, the incident took place in the Kohistan district onFriday night. There were no immediate comments on this from the securityinstitutions.
Separately, more than 10 security forces were reported killed in Talibanonslaughts in Baghlan and Samangan provinces on Saturday.
At least 30 civilians were killed and over 70 wounded in airstrikes carriedout by the Afghan Air Force in Helmand province on Friday, the Talibanclaimed in a statement.
The army’s 215 – Maiwand Corps, however, claimed that a group of Talibanjoined by civilians were busy in “looting” a security base when they weretargeted.
Violence has surged in the war-weary country since the US announced itstroops will leave by Sept. 11. According to Afghanistan’s InteriorMinistry, more than 250 civilian casualties, allegedly caused by theTaliban, were recorded in May. The insurgents, however, rejected thegovernment’s claim.
