The Taliban, engaged in a vast "spring offensive" alongside the withdrawal of US troops, have taken control of Barka district in Baghlan province in northern Afghanistan, forcing government troops to retreat Afghan officials said Wednesday (May 5th).
Provincial police spokesman Jawed Basharat said the Taliban captured Barka district after several hours of fighting against government forces, not without suffering heavy losses in their ranks.
A senior official in the security services, for his part, reported at least 10 dead within the Afghan forces and 16 other members captured by the Taliban.
The district of Barka fell in the aftermath of an offensive in Helmand province, pushed back by Afghan forces.
Taliban fighters launched numerous simultaneous attacks in this southern province on Monday.
According to the Afghan government, there have been more than 100 attacks on security forces and public facilities in 26 of the country's 34 provinces in the past 24 hours.
A growing hold
The fighting has intensified sharply in recent weeks, after Washington announced its intention to withdraw all its troops from Afghanistan.
United States President Joe Biden announced in mid-April that American troops would begin their full and final withdrawal from Afghanistan on May 1 by September 11.
>> To read: An inglorious departure from Afghanistan for the United States and the Taliban "stronger than ever"
This repatriation of the 2,500 American soldiers still present there will signal, once completed, the end of a twenty-year war for Washington, but will open a period of uncertainty for a country under the growing influence of the Taliban.
Since their overthrow by the United States following the September 11, 2001 attacks in New York and Washington, the Taliban have never controlled so much territory in Afghanistan.
With Reuters
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