Al-Jazeera correspondent quoted a government source as saying that 22 members of the Afghan special forces were killed in clashes with Taliban militants, which took place last night in the "Dawlatabad" district of Faryab province in the north of the country, while 5 civilians were killed in a car bomb explosion in Balkh province in the north as well.
On the other hand, the head of the Supreme Reconciliation Council said that the Taliban will not win through war.
The government source said that the Afghan forces managed to regain control of the directorate's headquarters, after elements of the government forces were ambushed by the Taliban. The source added that 45 Taliban militants were killed in the clashes.
According to Afghan sources, since the withdrawal of US forces began a few weeks ago, at least 27 districts of the country have fallen into the hands of the Taliban.
Nasir Shadeed, Al-Jazeera correspondent in Jalalabad, said that American-trained Afghan special forces went to the Dolatabad Directorate to regain control of it from the grip of the Taliban, who took control of it 3 weeks ago. And when those forces left the city, they were ambushed by the Taliban.
In the past three weeks, the Taliban took control of many areas, then government forces retook 4 of them during the past two days. The Taliban moved their battles from southern Afghanistan to the north and west, especially with the start of foreign forces withdrawing from the country.
Taliban approach
And Anadolu Agency reported that the head of Afghanistan's Supreme Reconciliation Council, Abdullah Abdullah, said - in statements today, Thursday - that the Taliban will not win through the war, adding that the movement is trying to win the war by escalating violence, stressing that it will not win in this way.
The Afghan official pointed out that the Taliban is ignoring a great opportunity for peace, stressing the importance of national unity as a way out of the current situation in the country.
Al-Jazeera correspondent added that there was talk in the past few days about the necessity of keeping some foreign forces in Afghanistan, in order to secure Kabul Airport and diplomatic missions, which the Taliban strongly rejected.
car bomb
In the province of Balkh in northern Afghanistan, a security source told the island that 5 civilians were killed and 7 wounded, in a car bomb explosion near the headquarters of the Afghan forces in the province.
The source said that the security forces identified a car driven by a suicide bomber, and it detonated before reaching the security headquarters;
This resulted in civilian casualties and material losses, according to the source.
The Taliban has not commented on the incident so far.
Afghanistan has been suffering a war since 2001, when an international military coalition led by Washington overthrew the Taliban regime;
At the time, it was linked to al-Qaeda, which claimed the 11 September attacks in the United States.
The level of violence in Afghanistan has escalated since the beginning of last May, with the start of the final stage of the withdrawal of US forces by order of President Joe Biden last April, which is scheduled to be completed by next September 11.