The Taliban has taken the strategic Afghan city of Ghazni, just 150 kilometres from Kabul, in one of the insurgents' most important gains in an offensive that has seen them seize 10 provincial capitals in a week.
The Taliban on Thursday took the strategic Afghan city of Ghazni, just 150 kilometres from the national capital Kabul, in one of the insurgents' most important gains in a lightning offensive that has seen them seize 10 provincial capitals in a week.
"The enemy took control," spokesman Mirwais Stanikzai said in a message to media, adding fighting and resistance was still going on. The 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 dispersed security forces who have increasingly been cut off from reinforcements by road.
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