Kabul
Taliban militants have taken over a district, launched attacks on checkpoints and cemented control over a border trade crossing, officials said on Monday, as clashes intensify in Afghanistan’s central and northern provinces.
Violence has risen sharply around the country as foreign forces work towards withdrawing by Sept. 11 and peace talks in Qatar have failed to make significant progress.
The Taliban have launched a wave of offensives around the country, particularly in the north, outside of their southern strongholds.
In central Bamiyan province, normally relatively free of conflict, Taliban fighters attacked several security checkpoints, resulting in heavy clashes overnight, according to Humayoon Elkhani, spokesman for Bamiyan s provincial police.
In central Ghazni province, Muqur district fell to the Taliban after months of being under siege, according to a member of the provincial council and a security source. A health centre in the district was bombed on Monday morning, according to provincial health director Zaher Shah Nekmal, injuring five health workers.—Reuters
