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Taliban surround Ghazni amid fighting with Afghan troops

WION Web Team
AfghanistanUpdated: Jul 12, 2021, 04:37 PM IST
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Photograph:(AFP)

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Taliban has made major inroads in northern Afghanistan as heavy fighting continued in Kandahar. The militant group said it had taken areas along the Tajikistan border

As the Taliban makes further inroads, reports say the militant group has surrounded Ghazni city in central Afghanistan.

On Sunday, Afghan authorities had said they had installed anti-missile system at Kabul airport to guard against the Taliban's incoming rocket attack even as Tukey declared it will provide security to Kabul airport once US and NATO troops leave in August.

The Taliban has made rapid headway in the northern areas in the past month as the US troops have pulled out of the country and handed vital installations to Afghan troops.

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Reports say heavy fighting is continuing between Afghan troops and the Taliban in Kandahar. The Afghan troops had earlier repelled a Taliban attack on Taluqan along the Tajikistan border even as it entered the capital of the western province of Badghis.

Australia's defence minister Peter Dutton said most troops had pulled out of Afghanistan. The country had deployed 39,000 troops as part of US and NATO-led operations in the past 20 years.

Taliban militants had earlier captured two key border crossings in western Afghanistan as areas along the Iranian border and Chinese border came under the spotlight.

The Taliban said it had seized Islam Qala along the Iran border and Torghundi crossing with Turkmenistan. Clashes were also reported in Kunduz as Afghan soldiers claimed the Taliban had suffered casualties.

Last week the Taliban claimed it controlled 85 per cent of the country. President Joe Biden had said the US troops will completely pull out of the country by August 31, asserting that his administration "will not send another generation of Americans to war in Afghanistan."

(With inputs from Agencies)