Taliban Takes Key North Afghan District as Fighting Surges
- Capital of southern Helmand province under Taliban siege
- Car bombing near U.S. embassy in Kabul wounds at least three
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Taliban militants captured a key district about 100 miles north of Afghanistan’s capital, which itself was hit by a bombing on Monday, a blow to the government in Kabul that’s coming under further pressure from a renewed surge in fighting.
Following days of heavy clashes with Afghan security forces, the Dahan-I-Ghori district in northern Baghlan province came under Taliban control, said Mahmood Haqmal, a spokesman for the province. Soon after its capture, the militants set some shops and fields ablaze, Haqmal said by phone on Monday. Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahed also confirmed the takeover in an e-mailed statement.