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As the group continues to make progress as foreign forces withdraw, some sources say some Afghan security officials have fled to Iran.
Taliban fighters have taken control of a key western district in Afghanistan that has a major border crossing with Iran, Afghan security officials say, as the armed group continues its rapid military progress across the country.
Last week, the Taliban crossed areas bordering five countries – Iran, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, China and Pakistan – as foreign forces ended their 20-year intervention and the security situation at home worsened.
Clashes between Taliban fighters and Afghan government forces were also underway in the northern Balkh province bordering Uzbekistan.
Two senior security officials told Reuters on condition of anonymity that Islam Qala had crossed the border into Iran, located in Herat province, that it had been handed over to the Taliban and that Afghan security and customs officials had fled across the border.
Al Alalam Television, Iran’s official Arabic service, reported that Afghan soldiers had entered Iranian territory to cross the border to escape the Taliban.
Afghan Interior Ministry spokesman Tariq Arian denied the reports and said the border crossing was still under the control of government forces.
Reuters’ calls to the provincial governor’s and police’s offices went unanswered.
Another security official said Taliban fighters had taken five districts in Herat without a fight.
Earlier this week, more than 1,000 Afghan security personnel fled to Tajikistan, where the Taliban captured most of the northern province of Badakhshan, which also borders China and Pakistan.
The defense ministry said Afghan government forces recaptured Qala-e-Naw, the capital of western Badghis province, on Thursday. he made a storm the Taliban on Wednesday.
Hundreds of troops were deployed to the region, the ministry said, adding that fighting continues at the Qala-e-Naw border, where the Taliban have previously hijacked major city government buildings, including a police headquarters.
“The city is completely there [back] we are conducting operations under our control and against the Taliban on the outskirts of the city, ”Defense Ministry spokesman Fawad Aman said.
The ministry said 69 Taliban fighters had been killed in operations on the banks of the Qala-e-Naw, the first provincial capital in which the fighters entered the latest offensive.
The rest of Badghis province is in the hands of the Taliban. Western security officials say the Taliban have captured more than 100 districts in Afghanistan.
The Taliban says it has more than 200 districts in 34 provinces that make up more than half the country. Major cities are under government control.
The group has been gaining ground for weeks, but accelerated its momentum when the United States left its main base in Afghanistan, ending its intervention in 2001 with the overthrow of the Taliban government.
The Taliban’s progress has been particularly tremendous in the northern provinces, which have long been hostage.
Peace talks between the government and the group remain unabated. Taliban delegations were in Iran on Wednesday and in Moscow on Thursday.
Defending the decision to withdraw U.S. forces from Afghanistan, President Joe Biden he said on Thursday he did not expect the Taliban to take over the entire country and gain confidence in the Afghan military.
“We are ending America’s longest war,” he said.
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