The Taliban have taken control of two more cities in Afghanistan, bringing their total to eight provincial capitals since Friday.
On Tuesday, the armed group took control of Farah city in the southwestern province of Farah and Pul-e-Khumri in the northern province of Baghlan. Both provincial capitals have been taken, according to local reports.
“After a brief battle with government troops, the Taliban entered the city of Farah this afternoon. On Tuesday, Shahla Abubar, a member of Farah’s provincial council, informed the AFP news agency that the governor’s office and police headquarters had been taken over.
According to lawmaker Abdul Nasri Farahi, the Taliban have taken control of the province’s major jail.
Farah is currently the group’s second provincial capital in the southwest of Afghanistan. The Taliban took control of the neighbouring province of Nimruz on Friday.
Farah’s takeover also gives the militants with another border passage into Iran.
Local security personnel, according to Abubar, have withdrawn to an army base outside the city.
According to an AFP report, the Taliban took Pul-e-Khumri, the capital of Baghlan province and approximately 200 kilometres (125 miles) north of Kabul, on Tuesday.
“The security personnel were overrun and fled after approximately two hours of fighting,” claimed Mamoor Ahmadzai, a legislator.
With the conquest of Pul-e-Khumri, the Taliban now control a trifecta of northern provinces.
The Taliban took control of Kunduz and Takhar earlier this week. They now have control of virtually the whole 378-kilometer route between Kabul and Badakhshan in the northeastern province of Badakhshan. That route serves as a significant transportation centre for both passenger and commercial vehicles, as well as illicit products such as drugs.