Lashkar Gah police HQ falls as Taliban storms Kandahar prison
Afghan government forces continue to battle Taliban fighters in and around several cities as the armed group presses on with its offensive that US intelligence believes could see it take over capital Kabul within 90 days.
Fighting is raging in Lashkar Gah, one of Afghanistan’s largest cities in the Taliban heartland of Helmand province, where surrounded government forces hope to hold onto the capital after the Taliban’s weeklong blitz has seen it already seize nine others around the country.
The Lashkar Gah regional police headquarters were taken by the armed group, with some police officers surrendering to the fighters and others retreating to the nearby governor’s office still held by government forces.
Meanwhile, the Taliban appeared to be pressing Ghazni, into the capital of Ghazni province, about 130km (80 miles) southwest of capital Kabul.
Local sources have told Al Jazeera that fighting continues in Ghazni. The most intense fighting remains near the intelligence headquarters as special forces and the military are fighting to push back the Taliban.
Taliban fighters capture the city of Ghazni, the 10th provincial capital they have seized in several days.
A senior security official tells Reuters news agency the Taliban had captured Ghazni, which is on the highway between Kabul and the second city of Kandahar, and had occupied all of its government agency headquarters after heavy clashes.
“All local government officials, including the provincial governor, have been evacuated towards Kabul,” said the official who declined to be identified.
Denmark to evacuate current, former local employees
Denmark has agreed to evacuate current and former employees of the Danish embassy or Danish armed forces in Afghanistan due to the worsening security situation, the government says.
Denmark will grant people who have been employed in the previous two years and their close relatives temporary residence permits for two years, the government says.
“The security situation in Afghanistan is serious. The Taliban are gaining ground and developments are accelerating faster than many had feared,” the government says in a statement.
“We have a common responsibility to help the Afghans who are now threatened due to their connection to and contribution to Denmark’s engagement in Afghanistan,” it said.
Governor leaves Ghazni city
Al Jazeera’s Rob McBride, reporting from Kabul, says the city of Ghazni itself has fallen to the Taliban, but there is still fighting around the intelligence compound.
“The governor of Ghazni has actually left the city,” he says.
“This is a significant gain for the Taliban. There has been extensive fighting around the city of Ghazni for some days now. It was always suspected that if another provincial capital was about to fall, this would probably be Ghazni.”
Police headquarters falls to Taliban in Lashkar Gah
The Taliban has captured police headquarters in Lashkar Gah, a provincial capital in southern Afghanistan that is teetering towards being lost to the armed group as suspected US air raids pounded the area, an official has said.
On Wednesday, a suicide car bombing marked the latest wave to target the capital’s regional police headquarters.
By Thursday, the Taliban had taken the building, with some police officers surrendering to the group and others retreating to the nearby governor’s office still held by government forces, said Nasima Niazi, a lawmaker from Helmand.
Niazi said she believed the Taliban attack killed and wounded security force members, but she had no casualty figures.
Thousands of displaced families in a park in Kabul [Haroon Sabawoon/Anadolu Agency]Taliban launches attacks on Ghazni from several directions
The Taliban appears to be pressing into Ghazni, the capital of Ghazni province, about 130km (80 miles) southwest of Kabul.
Wahidullah Jumazada, a spokesman for the provincial governor in Ghazni, acknowledged the fighters had launched attacks from several directions on the capital, but insisted the government remained in control.
The Taliban posted a video online claiming it had made it inside the provincial capital.
Local sources have told Al Jazeera that fighting continues in Ghazni. The most intense fighting remains near the intelligence headquarters as special forces and the military are fighting to push back the Taliban.
