Taliban overrun district in central Afghanistan

By Shadi Khan Saif

KABUL, Afghanistan (AA) – The Taliban overrun a key district in the Maidan Wardak province neighboring capital Kabul amid escalating violence across Afghanistan, officials confirmed on Wednesday.

The Narkh district in this restive central district was under the siege of the Taliban for the past many days. According to the provincial governor Abdul Rehman Tariq, the under siege forces went on "tactical retreat" from the area upon which the insurgents entered the district.

“The Taliban during raids on Narkh inflicted heavy losses on the district administrative compound,” he said in a video statement.

On their part, the insurgents claim to have overrun a district administrative compound, police headquarters and a military base in Narkh. The group’s spokesman Zabihullah Mujahed shared on Twitter footage from the area depicting the insurgents taking away the security forces’ vehicles.

The Interior Ministry vowed Narkh, like other briefly fallen districts, would soon be retaken by the security forces.

In the neighboring Logar province, officials told Anadolu Agency at least 15 key government officials have been killed by the insurgents in a targeted assassination spree this week.

On the National Day of Mourning a day earlier, Afghan President Mohammad Ashraf Ghani renewed his call for a political settlement of the raging conflict.

Responding to the Taliban’s brief truce call for the Muslim Eid al-Fitr holiday, Ghani said the withdrawal of foreign troops leaves no reason for the Taliban to continue their deadly insurgency. “Resorting to violence, killing civilians, destroying infrastructure, and attacking public places is wrong and illegal on any day, not just Eid days,” he said.