Taliban militants capture Jawand District in Badghis

Taliban militants have reportedly captured Jawand District in Afghanistan’s northwestern province of Badghis.

The militants attacked the district on Saturday night and took control of the governor’s office and police headquarters there, according to Bahauddin Qudosi, head of the provincial council of Badghis.

The Afghan official said the district governor, police chief and a number of other government officials have retreated from their offices to a nearby village, adding that if the government officials do not receive timely support, they risk being captured by the militants.

Taliban have claimed responsibility for the attack, which has had no reports of casualties so far. The assault is one of the deadliest by the militants in Afghanistan over the past two months.

In a separate incident, officials said Sunday that four Afghan intelligence agency employees have been wounded in a bomb blast at the office of the National Directorate for Security (NDS) in the southern province of Kandahar.

Hasib Sediqi, spokesman for the National Directorate for Security, said the bombing was carried out during the early hours of Sunday, when a bomber detonated his explosives near the NDS compound. He said security guards at the entrance shot dead two other attackers.

Qari Yousaf Ahmadi, a Taliban spokesman, claimed responsibility for the bomb attack in an email.

Fighting between Afghan forces and militants has intensified since Taliban launched its so-called annual spring offensive against Afghan forces and foreign embassies on April 24. Afghan Interior Minister Noorul Haq Ulumi and Brigadier General Dawlat Waziri, who serves as the first deputy to the spokesman of the Afghan Defense Ministry, have stated that the country’s security forces are capable of foiling the militant attacks.

Afghanistan faces a security challenge years after the United States and its allies invaded the country in 2001 as part of Washington’s so-called war on terror. The offensive removed Taliban from power, but many areas in the country are still witnessing violence, which threatens stability.

At least 13,500 foreign forces remain in Afghanistan despite the end of the US-led combat mission, which came on December 31, 2014. The forces, mainly from the US, are there for what Washington calls a support mission. NATO says the forces will focus mainly on counterterrorism operations and training Afghan soldiers and policemen.

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