21 July 2016•Update: 23 July 2016
By Shadi Khan Saif
KABUL, Afghanistan
The Taliban have reportedly overrun a strategic Afghan district bordering with Tajikistan overnight Thursday, after four days of fighting.
Government forces have been attempting to repulse the militant surge while denying the Taliban fully control the Qala-e-Zal district, in the Kunduz province where the group had been able to temporarily seize the provincial capital last year.
Amiruddin Wali, a member of the provincial council, has claimed the district headquarters has been captured by the Taliban after four days of fighting while another member of the council Asadullah Sadaat said that district police chief Safiullah Amiri.
The Taliban also issued a statement claiming it had taken the district and killed around 20 from the Afghan security forces in coordinated attacks.
Security officials have however insisted that the government forces are now back in control following a "tactical retreat."
Shiraziz Kamawal, commander of Afghan Police ’s 808-Spinghar Corps, told Anadolu Agency fighting was ongoing and that a number of rebels had been killed in the clean-up operation, though he did not give details of how many.
The Taliban took the Afghan government by surprise last year when they were able to seize Kunduz city for two weeks in October last year. It was the first time they had been able to take control of a major city since being pushed from power by the U.S. invasion in 2001.
