Fierce clashes erupt between Taliban, Afghan forces over Ghazni

Fierce clashes have broken out between Taliban and Afghan government forces as the militants launched an all-out offensive to seize the central city of Ghazni.

The fighting erupted near security checkpoints in the Shaikh Ajal and Ganj area of Ghazni city on Tuesday, forcing shopkeepers to shut the main market in the central province of the same name.

Local officials said the Taliban militants used explosives in an attempt to take control of the city while Afghan troops tried to repel the attack and managed to regain control of areas captured by the militants in the outskirts of Ghazni.

"The situation in Ghazni is changing, most of the lost areas in the outskirts are being taken back by the Afghan forces," said Abdul Jami, a provincial council member in Ghazni.

Jami said roads into the area were closed and telecommunications interrupted, which made it hard for Afghan aid groups and officials to assess the number of casualties.

The Taliban have for years had a strong presence in the central province of Ghazni, but provincial police officials said the Tuesday’s attack was the fiercest launched by the militants.

Afghan officials said young civilians were actively joining the battle against the Taliban as government forces are combating the militants in Ghazni and other parts of the country.

Ajmal Omar Shinwari, a spokesman for the Afghan defense and security forces, said Afghans keen to take up arms against the Taliban were being absorbed in army forces.

"First they will be trained then they will be deployed to the battlefield along with other Afghan security forces," Shinwari said in a news briefing in the capital city Kabul.

The spokesman also said over 6,000 Taliban militants have been killed and more than 3,400 others injured over the past month as fighting continues in the war-torn country.

Afghanistan’s media: 100 Taliban militants, 80 Afghan soldiers killed in 24 hours

The TOLO News reported that fighting erupted in 70 districts across several provinces.

Since early May, the Taliban militant group has been engaged in major offensives against Afghan government forces and civilians across the country. The group claims to have seized at least 87 of the country’s 421 districts.

The militant group’s advances come as US and other NATO troops prepare to leave Afghanistan after two decades of war and occupation.

US President Joe Biden announced in April that all American troops would withdraw from Afghanistan by September 11, the 20th anniversary of the terrorist attacks that Washington used as a pretext to invade and occupy the country despite the fact that no Afghan national was involved in the attacks.

Five years of ruling Afghanistan by the Taliban came to an end following the US-led invasion of the country in 2001. The militant group was removed, but not incapacitated and Afghanistan continues to be ravaged by persistent attacks.

Thousands of Afghan civilians have lost their lives over the past two decades of conflict, with Washington having spent hundreds of billions of dollars on the war on Afghanistan.

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