The Taliban tightened the noose over northern Afghanistan Sunday, capturing two more provincial capitals as they take their fight to the cities after seizing much of the countryside in recent months.

The insurgents have snatched up four provincial capitals in Afghanistan since Friday in a lightning offensive that appears to have overwhelmed government forces.

Also read |&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/opinions-blogs/opinion-why-us-strategy-in-afghanistan-failed-against-taliban-pakistan-nexus-403844">Opinion | Why US strategy in Afghanistan failed against Taliban-Pakistan nexus?</a>

Kunduz and Sar-e-Pul in the north fell within hours of each other Sunday, lawmakers and residents in the cities confirmed, but not without fierce fighting.

Pro-Taliban social media accounts claimed the insurgents were also close to overrunning the provincial capital of Taloqan.

In Kunduz, one resident described the city as being enveloped in "total chaos".

"After some fierce fighting, the mujahideen, with the grace of God, captured the capital of Kunduz," the Taliban said in a statement.

"The mujahideen also captured Sar-e-Pul city, the government buildings and all the installations there."

Also read | <a href="https://www.wionews.com/south-asia/taliban-captures-key-installations-in-kunduz-heavy-fighting-underway-in-herat-kandahar-403938">Taliban captures key installations in Kunduz, heavy fighting underway in Herat, Kandahar</a>

Parwina Azimi, a women's rights activist in Sar-e-Pul, told AFP by phone that government officials and the remaining forces had retreated to an army barracks about three kilometres (two miles) from the city.

The Taliban had the compound "surrounded", said Mohammad Hussein Mujahidzada, a member of the provincial council.

Perennial target

Kunduz is the most significant Taliban gain since the insurgents launched an offensive in May as foreign forces began the final stages of their withdrawal.&nbsp;

It has been a perennial target for the Taliban, who briefly overran the city in 2015 and again in 2016 but never managed to hold it for long.&nbsp;

The ministry of defence said government forces were fighting to retake key installations.

"The commando forces have launched a clearing operation. Some areas, including the national radio and TV buildings, have been cleared of the terrorist Taliban," it said.

<div class="videoWrapper trancodeVideo"><iframe allowfullscreen="" autoplay="1" class="includeVideo" frameborder="0" height="350" src="https://www.wionews.com/videos/afghanistan-taliban-claims-to-capture-urban-parts-in-kunduz-403956/embed" style="width:100%;max-width:560px;" width="560"></iframe></div>

Kabul's ability to hold the north may prove crucial to the government's long-term survival.

Northern Afghanistan has long been considered an anti-Taliban stronghold that saw some of the stiffest resistance to militant rule in the 1990s.

Also read |&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/south-asia/in-taliban-held-nimroz-public-property-gets-looted-403846">In Taliban-held Nimroz, public property gets ‘looted’</a>

The region remains home to several militias and is also a fertile recruiting ground for the country's armed forces.&nbsp;

"The capture of Kunduz is quite significant because it will free up a large number of Taliban forces who might then be mobilised in other parts of the north," said Ibraheem Thurial, a consultant for International Crisis Group.

Vivid footage of the fighting was posted on social media over the weekend, including what appeared to be large numbers of prisoners being freed from jails in captured cities.

The Taliban frequently target prisons to release incarcerated fighters to replenish their ranks.

On Friday, the insurgents seized their first provincial capital, Zaranj in southwestern Nimroz on the border with Iran, and followed it up by taking&nbsp;Sheberghan&nbsp;in northern Jawzjan province the next day.

US airstrikes&nbsp;

Fighting was also reported on the outskirts of Herat in the west, and Lashkar Gah and Kandahar in the south.

The pace of Taliban advances has caught government forces flatfooted, but they won some respite late Saturday after US warplanes bombed Taliban positions in&nbsp;Sheberghan.

Also read |&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/south-asia/us-orders-b-52-bombers-spectre-gunships-to-target-taliban-says-report-403840">US orders B-52 bombers, Spectre gunships to target Taliban, says report</a> &nbsp;

"US forces have conducted several air strikes in defence of our Afghan partners in recent days," Major Nicole Ferrara, a Central Command spokesperson, told AFP in Washington.

Sheberghan&nbsp;is the stronghold of notorious Afghan warlord Abdul Rashid Dostum, whose militiamen and government forces were reportedly retreating east to Mazar-i-Sharif in Balkh province.

Dostum has overseen one of the largest militias in the north and garnered a fearsome reputation fighting the Taliban in the 1990s -- along with accusations his forces massacred thousands of insurgent prisoners of war.

<div class="videoWrapper trancodeVideo"><iframe allowfullscreen="" autoplay="1" class="includeVideo" frameborder="0" height="350" src="https://www.wionews.com/videos/taliban-international-community-worries-for-afghans-404044/embed" style="width:100%;max-width:560px;" width="560"></iframe></div>

A retreat of his fighters dents the government's recent hopes that militias could help the overstretched military.

The government has said little about the fall of the provincial capitals, other than vowing to retake them.

That has been a familiar response to most Taliban gains in recent weeks, although government forces have largely failed to make good on promises to retake dozens of districts and border posts.

Hundreds of thousands of Afghans have been displaced by the recent fighting, and on Saturday, 12 people were killed when their bus was struck by a roadside bomb as they tried to flee Gardez in Paktia province.

<div class="videoWrapper trancodeVideo"><iframe allowfullscreen="" autoplay="1" class="includeVideo" frameborder="0" height="350" src="https://www.wionews.com/videos/afghanistan-violence-in-herat-city-prompt-mass-evacuation-403959/embed" style="width:100%;max-width:560px;" width="560"></iframe></div>

"I lost my mother, father, two brothers, two sisters-in-law and other members of the family," said Noor Jan.

The withdrawal of foreign forces is due to finish at the end of this month ahead of the 20th anniversary of the September 11 attacks. The US-led invasion sparked by 9/11 toppled the first Taliban regime in 2001.

The Taliban tightened the noose over northern Afghanistan Sunday, capturing two more provincial capitals as they take their fight to the cities after seizing much of the countryside in recent months.

The Taliban tightened the noose over northern Afghanistan Sunday, capturing two more provincial capitals as they take their fight to the cities after seizing much of the countryside in recent months. The insurgents have snatched up four provincial capitals in Afghanistan since Friday in a lightning offensive that appears to have overwhelmed government forces. Also read | Opinion | Why US strategy in Afghanistan failed against Taliban-Pakistan nexus? Kunduz and Sar-e-Pul in the north fell within hours of each other Sunday, lawmakers and residents in the cities confirmed, but not without fierce fighting. Pro-Taliban social media accounts claimed the insurgents were also close to overrunning the provincial capital of Taloqan. In Kunduz, one resident described the city as being enveloped in "total chaos". "After some fierce fighting, the mujahideen, with the grace of God, captured the capital of Kunduz," the Taliban said in a statement. "The mujahideen also captured Sar-e-Pul city, the government buildings and all the installations there." Also read | Taliban captures key installations in Kunduz, heavy fighting underway in Herat, Kandahar Parwina Azimi, a women's rights activist in Sar-e-Pul, told AFP by phone that government officials and the remaining forces had retreated to an army barracks about three kilometres (two miles) from the city. The Taliban had the compound "surrounded", said Mohammad Hussein Mujahidzada, a member of the provincial council. Perennial target Kunduz is the most significant Taliban gain since the insurgents launched an offensive in May as foreign forces began the final stages of their withdrawal. It has been a perennial target for the Taliban, who briefly overran the city in 2015 and again in 2016 but never managed to hold it for long. The ministry of defence said government forces were fighting to retake key installations. "The commando forces have launched a clearing operation. Some areas, including the national radio and TV buildings, have been cleared of the terrorist Taliban," it said. Kabul's ability to hold the north may prove crucial to the government's long-term survival. Northern Afghanistan has long been considered an anti-Taliban stronghold that saw some of the stiffest resistance to militant rule in the 1990s. Also read | In Taliban-held Nimroz, public property gets ‘looted’ The region remains home to several militias and is also a fertile recruiting ground for the country's armed forces. "The capture of Kunduz is quite significant because it will free up a large number of Taliban forces who might then be mobilised in other parts of the north," said Ibraheem Thurial, a consultant for International Crisis Group. Vivid footage of the fighting was posted on social media over the weekend, including what appeared to be large numbers of prisoners being freed from jails in captured cities. The Taliban frequently target prisons to release incarcerated fighters to replenish their ranks. On Friday, the insurgents seized their first provincial capital, Zaranj in southwestern Nimroz on the border with Iran, and followed it up by taking Sheberghan in northern Jawzjan province the next day. US airstrikes Fighting was also reported on the outskirts of Herat in the west, and Lashkar Gah and Kandahar in the south. The pace of Taliban advances has caught government forces flatfooted, but they won some respite late Saturday after US warplanes bombed Taliban positions in Sheberghan. Also read | US orders B-52 bombers, Spectre gunships to target Taliban, says report "US forces have conducted several air strikes in defence of our Afghan partners in recent days," Major Nicole Ferrara, a Central Command spokesperson, told AFP in Washington. Sheberghan is the stronghold of notorious Afghan warlord Abdul Rashid Dostum, whose militiamen and government forces were reportedly retreating east to Mazar-i-Sharif in Balkh province. Dostum has overseen one of the largest militias in the north and garnered a fearsome reputation fighting the Taliban in the 1990s -- along with accusations his forces massacred thousands of insurgent prisoners of war. A retreat of his fighters dents the government's recent hopes that militias could help the overstretched military. The government has said little about the fall of the provincial capitals, other than vowing to retake them. That has been a familiar response to most Taliban gains in recent weeks, although government forces have largely failed to make good on promises to retake dozens of districts and border posts. Hundreds of thousands of Afghans have been displaced by the recent fighting, and on Saturday, 12 people were killed when their bus was struck by a roadside bomb as they tried to flee Gardez in Paktia province. "I lost my mother, father, two brothers, two sisters-in-law and other members of the family," said Noor Jan. The withdrawal of foreign forces is due to finish at the end of this month ahead of the 20th anniversary of the September 11 attacks. The US-led invasion sparked by 9/11 toppled the first Taliban regime in 2001.

Taliban seize two more Afghan provincial capitals in northern blitz

Amid fighting between Afghan troops and the <a href="https://www.wionews.com/south-asia/us-orders-b-52-bombers-spectre-gunships-to-target-taliban-says-report-403840">Taliban</a> in Kunduz, the militant group&nbsp;claimed it had captured the key Afghan city.

Reports say street-to-street fighting is taking place in Kunduz after&nbsp;the Taliban seized their first provincial capital&nbsp;Zaranj in Nimroz and Sheberghan in Jawzjan.

Reports said&nbsp;key installations in&nbsp;Kunduz have been captured by the Taliban.

Fierce fighting is also underway in Herat, Lashkar Gah and Kandahar in the south.

Meanwhile, an Afghan Air Force pilot was reportedly killed in Kabul after a sticky bomb attached to his vehicle detonated. The Taliban claimed responsibility for the attack.

Watch:

<div class="videoWrapper trancodeVideo"><iframe allowfullscreen="" autoplay="1" class="includeVideo" frameborder="0" height="350" src="https://www.wionews.com/videos/us-b-52-bombers-targeted-a-taliban-rally-in-sheberghan-403906/embed" style="width:100%;max-width:560px;" width="560"></iframe></div>

Taliban has made rapid gains in rural Afghanistan in the past two months after President Joe Biden declared the last US troops will be pulled out of the region by August 31 which is now just weeks away.

On Saturday, the Taliban closed a key border in Spin Boldak crossing along the Afghanistan-Pakistan area leaving several hundred travellers stranded.

The militant group had captured Spin Boldak last month. Reports said the Taliban freed several militants after capturing Zaranj amid looting in the area.

Britain on Saturday had urged its citizens to leave the country due to the "worsening security situation".

"Terrorists are very likely to try to carry out attacks in Afghanistan. Specific methods of attack are evolving and increasing in sophistication," UK's foreign office had said.

On Friday, the Taliban had shot the head of the Afghan government's media information centre even as it had carried out a bomb attack on the country's defence minister Bismillah Mohammadi in the capital.

As the fighting intensified, Central Asian leaders from Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan met in Avaza on the Caspian Sea promising to "provide all possible assistance" towards achieving peace in Afghanistan. &nbsp;

Tajikistan's President Emomali Rakhmon said the Taliban now controls large parts of Afghanistan's border. "A number of terrorist organisations are actively strengthening their positions in these areas," Rakhmon said.

(With inputs from Agencies)&nbsp;

Amid fighting between Afghan troops and the Taliban in Kunduz, the militant group claimed it had captured the key Afghan city. Reports say street-to-street fighting is taking place in Kunduz after the Taliban seized their first provincial capital Zaranj in Nimroz and Sheberghan in Jawzjan.

Amid fighting between Afghan troops and the Taliban in Kunduz, the militant group claimed it had captured the key Afghan city. Reports say street-to-street fighting is taking place in Kunduz after the Taliban seized their first provincial capital Zaranj in Nimroz and Sheberghan in Jawzjan. Reports said key installations in Kunduz have been captured by the Taliban. Fierce fighting is also underway in Herat, Lashkar Gah and Kandahar in the south. Meanwhile, an Afghan Air Force pilot was reportedly killed in Kabul after a sticky bomb attached to his vehicle detonated. The Taliban claimed responsibility for the attack. Watch: Taliban has made rapid gains in rural Afghanistan in the past two months after President Joe Biden declared the last US troops will be pulled out of the region by August 31 which is now just weeks away. On Saturday, the Taliban closed a key border in Spin Boldak crossing along the Afghanistan-Pakistan area leaving several hundred travellers stranded. The militant group had captured Spin Boldak last month. Reports said the Taliban freed several militants after capturing Zaranj amid looting in the area. Britain on Saturday had urged its citizens to leave the country due to the "worsening security situation". "Terrorists are very likely to try to carry out attacks in Afghanistan. Specific methods of attack are evolving and increasing in sophistication," UK's foreign office had said. On Friday, the Taliban had shot the head of the Afghan government's media information centre even as it had carried out a bomb attack on the country's defence minister Bismillah Mohammadi in the capital. As the fighting intensified, Central Asian leaders from Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan met in Avaza on the Caspian Sea promising to "provide all possible assistance" towards achieving peace in Afghanistan. Tajikistan's President Emomali Rakhmon said the Taliban now controls large parts of Afghanistan's border. "A number of terrorist organisations are actively strengthening their positions in these areas," Rakhmon said. (With inputs from Agencies)

Taliban captures key installations in Kunduz, heavy fighting underway in Herat, Kandahar

Taliban militants on Saturday captured a district in northeastern Kunduz province, near the provincial capital where militants scored their biggest victory in 14 years last September.&nbsp; 
 
The militants, waging a bloody insurgency to topple the Western-backed Kabul government, have intensified their attacks nationwide and tightened their grip on the besieged capital of Helmand province southwest of Kunduz in recent weeks.&nbsp;Khan Abad district, which is around 30 kilometres east of Kunduz city, fell to Taliban after the militants launched a pre-dawn attack on the district centre, according to local officials. 
 
&quot;After several hours of fighting, the militants overran the district,&quot; the district&#39;s governor Hayatullah Amiri told AFP, adding that the provincial governor ignored their calls for reinforcements. 
 
Provincial spokesman Sayed Mahmood Danish confirmed the overnight battle, and said security forces were &quot;trying to get back control of the district from the Taliban&quot;. 
 
Khan Abad resident Abdul Satar told AFP hundreds had fled their homes amid the fighting.&nbsp;&quot;The residents of the city are worried about their lives and safety. People are fleeing their homes and they have left their shops,&quot; he said, adding that roads to neighbouring provinces were closed.&nbsp; 
 
Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid confirmed in a statement that the group&#39;s fighters were in control of district and police headquarters.&nbsp;The Taliban briefly captured northern Kunduz city in September last year, the first city to fall to the insurgents in their biggest victory in 14 years of war.&nbsp; 
 
The militants were driven out almost two weeks later by Afghan forces backed by US aircraft and NATO soldiers, but it marked the first time since 2001 that the Taliban were able to take control of a major city in the country. 
 
But US and Afghan officials insist that they will not allow another urban centre to be captured after after Kunduz was briefly overrun last year. 
 
(AFP)

Khan Abad fell to the Taliban after the militants' pre-dawn attack

Taliban militants on Saturday captured a district in northeastern Kunduz province, near the provincial capital where militants scored their biggest victory in 14 years last September. The militants, waging a bloody insurgency to topple the Western-backed Kabul government, have intensified their attacks nationwide and tightened their grip on the besieged capital of Helmand province southwest of Kunduz in recent weeks. Khan Abad district, which is around 30 kilometres east of Kunduz city, fell to Taliban after the militants launched a pre-dawn attack on the district centre, according to local officials. "After several hours of fighting, the militants overran the district," the district's governor Hayatullah Amiri told AFP, adding that the provincial governor ignored their calls for reinforcements. Provincial spokesman Sayed Mahmood Danish confirmed the overnight battle, and said security forces were "trying to get back control of the district from the Taliban". Khan Abad resident Abdul Satar told AFP hundreds had fled their homes amid the fighting. "The residents of the city are worried about their lives and safety. People are fleeing their homes and they have left their shops," he said, adding that roads to neighbouring provinces were closed. Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid confirmed in a statement that the group's fighters were in control of district and police headquarters. The Taliban briefly captured northern Kunduz city in September last year, the first city to fall to the insurgents in their biggest victory in 14 years of war. The militants were driven out almost two weeks later by Afghan forces backed by US aircraft and NATO soldiers, but it marked the first time since 2001 that the Taliban were able to take control of a major city in the country. But US and Afghan officials insist that they will not allow another urban centre to be captured after after Kunduz was briefly overrun last year. (AFP)

North Afghan district falls to Taliban: Officials