Afghan government forces have pushed Taliban militants out of most of the southern city of Tarin Kot, the capital of Uruzgan province.
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Afghan officials say they have repulsed a major Taliban assault on the capital of central Uruzgan province, adding that a “house-to-house” search has been launched to clear it of any remaining insurgents.
On Wednesday, local officials in the southern province warned the Afghan government of an impending fall of Tarinkot to the Taliban after the Islamist movement advanced to within nearly one mile from the city, reportedly claiming to have overrun more than a dozen Afghan army outposts.
After hours of the onslaught, Kabul sent Afghan commandos and reinforcements to Tirin Kot, backed by US airstrikes.
Mohammad Radmanish, the ministry’s deputy spokesman, said the army, police and intelligence service headquarters in the city had been secured.
The insurgents crept within seven kilometres (four miles) of the capital of the restive poppy-rich province of Uruzgan, prompting urgent calls from officials for reinforcements and air support.
The militant offensive, and the apparent government collapse in some areas, were reminiscent of the Taliban’s swift but brief capture of Kunduz city in September past year, the first time it had seized a provincial capital since losing power in 2001.
The Taliban militants group however have claimed that they have taken control of several security posts as the provincial capital is under the siege of the group.
Last year, the government retook Kunduz only after almost two weeks of fighting, with elite Afghan troops backed up by USA special forces and warplanes.
The attack highlights the once rural insurgency’s aggressive push to capture big cities, from Kunduz in the north to Lashkar Gah in the south, leaving Afghan forces fighting without full NATO support thinly stretched across multiple fronts.
After hours of Taliban onslaught, Kabul sent Afghan commandos and reinforcements to Tirin Kot, backed by USA airstrikes.
The Taliban are also believed to have captured much of Uruzgan province.
One of the areas under attack was Sarchakhlai, just a few hundred yards from the provincial police headquarters.
Fighting was also reported around the government buildings in the city’s center.
In a statement late on Wednesday, the Taliban promised government forces protection if they surrendered peacefully.
Reinforcements included General Abdul Raziq, a border police commander from the southern region of Kandahar with a fearsome reputation, said Dost Mohammed Nayab, a spokesman for the governor of Uruzgan.
In a Voice of Jihad interview in April 2016 with Mullah Aminullah Yousuf, the Taliban’s shadow governor for Uruzgan, he described the province as “the linking point for many provinces” and a traditional “strong fortress of mujahideen”.
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“This morning was very bad, but the security situation is better now”, he said.
