KABUL, Aug 7 (NNN-AGENCIES) – Taliban militants yesterday captured Zaranj city, capital of Afghanistan’s western Nimroz province, a local TV channel reported.
The militants took control of the city, after brief clashes, as the Afghan security forces retreated from the city to two neighbouring suburban districts, reported local TV channel, Tolo News.
Zaranj, the smallest Afghan provincial capital, was the first Afghan city seized by the Taliban militants, who have been waging heavy fighting to capture Afghan cities, since the withdrawal of U.S.-led forces in early May.
Zabihullah Mujahid, a purported Taliban spokesman, wrote on his social media that, the militants took control of all government offices and a provincial prison in Zaranj, yesterday afternoon.
The remote Nimroz province has five districts, out of which the government security forces still control two of them, according to local sources.
Meanwhile, Rohulla Ahmadzai, spokesperson for Afghan Ministry of Defence, told local media that, Afghan security forces would soon launch a counter-offensive, to evict the militants from Zaranj.
Earlier yesterday, government security forces, backed by local public forces, repelled the Talibans from two cities of Lashkar Gah and Shiberghan, in northern and southern Afghan regions, while the militants were trying to take control over the said cities.
On Thursday night, scores of Zaranj residents, including women and children, were displaced and fled to the Iranian border, after sporadic clashes erupted on the city.
At least 30 Afghan soldiers were killed or wounded, after Taliban militants captured Kang district in Nimroz on Wednesday night, before taking control of the remote district.– NNN-AGENCIES
