The commander of the US forces in Afghanistan, General Austin Miller, expressed his country's concern about the acceleration of the Taliban's control over the territory, at a time when government authorities announced today that they had thwarted a Taliban attack on Bagram Air Base, which was evacuated by US forces on Friday.

General Miller said the future of Afghanistan does not look good if there is a tendency to dominate militarily.

Al-Jazeera correspondent in Washington, Bisan Abu Kweik, stated that Miller's statement is remarkable, and he had previously made a similar statement to him last week in a meeting with journalists in Afghanistan, and added that the US military withdrawal is being carried out as planned and without any change in it, according to the statements of the Ministry of Defense ( The Pentagon).

At the same time - the correspondent adds - the US authorities are holding consultations to discuss options for providing support to the Afghan forces after the military withdrawal, which is scheduled to be completed next September.

In the same context, the US Embassy in Kabul said it was confident of its ability to continue carrying out its tasks, and added that it had developed plans to protect its employees and facilities.

An Afghan government official told Al Jazeera that the consulates of Iran, Pakistan, Turkey and Uzbekistan were closed after the situation in the north of the country deteriorated due to the fighting between government forces and the Taliban.

Kapisa: The fall of the center of the Tjab Directorate and all its annexes into the hands of the Mujahideen pic.twitter.com/4MDVEeuXCZ

— Islamic Emirate (@alemara_ar) July 4, 2021

Bagram base

Anadolu Agency reported that the Afghan forces repelled an attack by Taliban fighters on Bagram base in Parwan state, and Bagram district governor Shirin Rovi said that 20 Taliban fighters attacked a local police checkpoint near the air base.

He added that the security forces confronted the militants of the movement after a policeman and a gunman were killed in an exchange of fire.

The Taliban did not claim responsibility for the attack on the most prominent military bases that were used by US forces for years.

On the other hand, Afghan officials said today that the Taliban took control of a key area in its former suspension, the southern province of Kandahar, after night confrontations with government forces.

The French Press Agency reported that the Taliban took control of the police headquarters in Panjwai district and the local administration building in the area. The district governor, Hasti Muhammad, said that battles took place between the Taliban and government forces during the night, which prompted the government forces to withdraw.

For his part, Kandahar Provincial Council Chairman Jan Khakriwal confirmed the fall of Panjway into the hands of the Taliban, accusing the government forces of "deliberately withdrawing."

After the movement took control of the area, dozens of families fled their homes, according to an AFP correspondent.

Panjwai is the fifth district of Kandahar province to fall to the Taliban in recent weeks.

Earlier on Sunday, an aide to the governor of Kandahar was killed when a bomb planted in his car exploded near a compound housing their offices, the Interior Ministry announced.

Battles erupted in several provinces at a time when the Taliban announced that it had control over 100 of about 400 districts in the country. Officials doubt this, but admit that government forces withdrew from some areas.

It is difficult to verify the situation independently.

The government says the Taliban has so far not been able to fully control any of the country's 34 provinces.

The government is skeptical about the torrent of repeated announcements of territorial victories by the Taliban.

The defense minister says the movement cannot gain power through force.

45 #Taliban terrorists were killed and 7 others were wounded in #airstrikes conducted by #AAF on Taliban hideouts in Nawa district of #Helmand province, today.


Also, 1 enemy vehicle, 19 weapons, 5 military radios and some amount of their ammunition & explosives were destroyed.

pic.twitter.com/aMRhEMFvsz

— Ministry of Defense, Afghanistan (@MoDAfghanistan) July 4, 2021

government raids

On the other hand, the Ministry of Defense said that 40 Taliban militants were killed and more than thirty were wounded last night, during a raid carried out in Baharak district, Badakhshan province in the north of the country.

It also said that its forces managed to recapture the headquarters of the Bahark district, after Taliban militants seized control of it yesterday following violent clashes.

A security source confirmed to Al-Jazeera earlier that Taliban militants took control of a military base and training center for government forces last night in Wardak, south of the capital, Kabul.

Today, the Ministry of Defense stated that 143 Taliban fighters were killed and 121 wounded in several states during the past 24 hours, and added, through a tweet on its Twitter account, that the security forces had rescued their operations in the provinces of Nangarhar (east), Kandahar, Herat (west), and Ghor (central). , Farah (southwest), Semankan (north), Helmand (south), Badakhshan (northeast), and the capital, Kabul (east).

Clashes between government security forces and the Taliban are escalating, at a time when US forces are withdrawing from Afghanistan, where the US withdrawal is scheduled to be completed by next September 11, according to President Joe Biden.