Second district in northern Afghan province falls to Taliban

The Taliban have taken control of a second district in Afghanistan's northern Takhar province, local officials said on Tuesday.

The centre of Takhar's Daraq district was overrun by Taliban militants on Tuesday morning, provincial council member Mohammad Azam Afzali told dpa.

Council member Sayed Salahuddin Burhani confirmed the move, adding that no reinforcements had been sent to the district to prevent the fall or retake control.

The district's fall comes after another district in the province, Yangi Qala, was overrun late Monday following two days of fighting between Afghan forces and Taliban militants in the area, according to the head of the provincial council, Wafiullah Rahmani.

Provincial council member Arbab Rohullah Rawoofi also confirmed the fall of the district, but the two officials did not disclose the number of casualties on both sides.

Rawoofi said most of the district was already controlled by the Taliban. The Taliban now has control of the district centre, a small area with a 1-kilometre radius, which was previously controlled by the Afghan government.

Fighting between Taliban and Afghan forces have increased since talks between US and Taliban were called off by US President Donald Trump late Saturday.

On Saturday, Dasht-e Archi in Kunduz fell to the Taliban after days of fighting in the district, according to provincial council member Ghulam Rabbani Rabbani.

Meanwhile, operations by government forces in two districts in Badakhshan - Yamgan and Warduj - made progress.

According to the provincial governor's media office, Warduj district was captured by Afghan forces on Saturday after days of fighting.

The Afghan Defence Ministry said in a statement on Monday that forces had moved towards Yamgan and captured it after their offensive in Warduj district.

However, provincial councillors only confirmed that government forces were able to make some gains in the two districts.

 Since July 2018, the US and the Taliban have been negotiating a political resolution to a conflict that began shortly after the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks in the US.

‘As far as I'm concerned, they're dead,’ Trump said from the White House lawn when asked about the peace talks on Monday.

The president's remarks indicate an end to the talks, which both sides said had made progress in ending the longest-ever war in US history.