ASADABAD – Taliban insurgents seized a district in Afghanistan’s remote northeast after a brief battle with police, provincial officials said on Tuesday, underscoring the difficulty Afghan and foreign forces face in securing the increasingly violent region.
Hundreds of Taliban fighters had captured the Waygal district centre in mountainous Nuristan province in the pre-dawn hours on Tuesday, said Mohammad Zarin, a spokesman for the provincial governor. Nimatullah Mazabyar, the head of the Nuristan provincial council, also confirmed sparsely populated Waygal was under control of insurgents.
Zarin said government forces were being prepared to launch a counter-offensive to retake the district. Violence in Afghanistan has spiralled in the past year, with Taliban-led militants stepping up their fight against the Afghan government and its Western backers as Kabul prepares to take security responsibility gradually from foreign forces.
In a statement emailed to the media, Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said the Islamist militants had hoisted their flag in the district centre and that 12 policemen had been captured, along with arms and ammunition.
