After the Taliban struck the major towns on August 12, the insurgent group controlled twelve provincial capitals in Afghanistan, isolating Kabul from the rest of the country.
On August 12, around 6:00 p.m. local time, the Taliban took control of Afghanistan’s third-largest city and a significant urban hub in the western region of the country. The group took control over the governor’s office and Headquarters of Herat police, says Afghan officials.
Badghis provincial council member to CNN
The provincial capital of the northwest Badghis province, Qala-I-Naw city, also fell to the militant group on Thursday, confirmed a Badghis provincial council member to CNN.
According to the council member, as stated to CNN, Afghan forces have fled to a local army base, which is the only location that has not yet fallen to the Taliban.
According to Nasir Ahmad Faqiri who is the head of Ghazni provincial council, “Earlier in the day, the city of Ghazni, a key provincial capital on the road to Kabul, also fell to the militant group after “long and intense fighting.”
Spokesman from Taliban
On Thursday, a Taliban spokesman on Twitter said the city had been seized, including the governor’s office, police headquarters and prison.
Dawood Laghmani, the governor of Ghazni province, was also arrested by Afghan security forces; hours later, the Taliban took the city, another spokesman for the Afghan interior ministry told the journalists.
“Laghmani was detained, along with his deputy and chief of staff, in Maidan Wardak, the province that lies between Kabul and Ghazni”, added the spokesman.
The governor had surrendered
According to Faqiri, the provincial council head, the governor also surrendered to the Taliban.
34 provinces of the country under Taliban
The report said more than one-third of the country’s 34 provinces have come under the Taliban.
Kandahar, which is in the southern part of the country, has been surrounded by the Taliban for weeks. The spokesperson of the group also claimed on August 11 that they are controlling the prison.
The Taliban announced that 1,000 convicts had been released and published a video of them walking outside the prison.
