The Taliban have taken the strategic Afghan city of Ghazni just 150 kilometres (95 miles) from Kabul, a senior lawmaker and the insurgents said Thursday.
The city — the 10th provincial capital to fall to the insurgents in a week — lies along the major Kabul-Kandahar highway, effectively serving as a gateway between the capital and strongholds in the south.
“The Taliban took control of the key areas of the city — the governor’s office, the police headquarters and the prison,” Nasir Ahmad Faqiri, head of the provincial council, said.
He added that fighting continued in parts of the city but that the provincial capital was largely in the insurgents’ hands.
The Taliban also confirmed capturing the city, according to a statement posted by the insurgency’s spokesman on social media.
The Afghan conflict has escalated dramatically since May, when US-led forces began the final stage of a troop withdrawal due to end later this month following a 20-year occupation.
The loss of the Ghazni will likely pile more pressure on the country’s already overstretched airforce, needed to bolster Afghanistan’s scattered security forces who have increasingly been cut off from reinforcements by road.
