Local officials said that the Taliban launched an attack on Qala-e-Naw, causing civilians to flee and the Afghan army to surrender.

Local officials said that since launching a major offensive against government forces, the Taliban launched its first attack on a provincial capital city in Afghanistan, causing panic among the local people and prompting prisoners to escape from the city’s prisons.

On Wednesday, fierce fighting broke out in Gala-Eno, the capital of the northwestern province of Badghis, after fighters from armed groups captured all the surrounding areas of the province.

“The enemy entered the city and the districts fell. The fighting has already begun in the city,” Hesamuddin Shams, the governor of Badghis, told reporters in a text message.

Abdul Aziz Bek, Chairman of the Badghis Provincial Assembly, and Zia Gul Habibi, a member of the Assembly, confirmed that the Taliban and government forces broke out in the city fighting.

“Fighting in different parts of the city is still continuing,” Baker told AFP, adding that some security officials surrendered to the Taliban at night.

“As security forces and people don’t know what to do now, Qala-e-Naw is in a state of chaos,” Baker told Reuters.

“More than 200 prisoners in Badghis Central Prison broke the prison gate and escaped,” he said.

Habibi, a member of the Provincial Assembly, said that Taliban militants are in the city’s police headquarters and the country’s spy agency, the National Security Agency’s local offices.

“Provincial assembly officials have fled to a military camp in the city. Fighting in this city continues,” she said.

Since U.S. President Joe Biden declared the end of the “eternal war” in Afghanistan in mid-April, the Taliban have made great strides across the country.

But its most important takeaway is in the northern half of the country, which was the traditional stronghold of the strongman who helped defeat their American ally in 2001.

The Taliban now control approximately one third of all 421 regions and regional centers in Afghanistan.

Their progress forced the soldiers to surrender and the civilians to flee.

Shams said that as the security forces withdrew, the Taliban were in the hands of the other parts of Badghis outside the capital.

Afghan Defense Minister Bismillah Mohammadi (Bismillah Mohammadi) said in a statement that the war is entering a “difficult” phase, and the security forces “are doing their best and resources to defend Afghanistan and our compatriots under all circumstances.” “.

The latest development happened a few days after the U.S. and NATO forces Evacuate their main Bagram Air Force Base Near Kabul, where they led operations against the Taliban and their al-Qaeda allies for 20 years.

The areas controlled by the Taliban, especially the northern regions, are becoming more and more strategic, extending along the border between Afghanistan and Central Asian countries. Last month, the organization took control of Imam Sahib, a town in Kunduz Province across from Uzbekistan, and controlled a key trade route.

Earlier this week, the Taliban occupied the northeastern part of Badakhshan Province and its The former fort of Kandahar.

At the same time, negotiations between the Afghan government and Qatar’s Taliban negotiators have failed to make substantial progress in recent months, even though the warring parties have been holding meetings in recent days.

Iran told the Taliban and representatives of the Afghan government on Wednesday that it stands ready to help end the crisis in Afghanistan, urging the people and politicians of the country to make “difficult decisions” about its future.

Iranian Foreign Minister Mohamed Javad Zarif said when presiding over the meeting of representatives of the Afghan government and the Taliban’s high-level political committee, “committing to a political solution is the best choice”.