Violent battles continue between the “Taliban” movement, on the one hand, and the Afghan forces, backed by militants, on the other.

According to Afghan media, the “Taliban” movement has taken control of three districts in Ghazni province, eastern Afghanistan, during the last 24 hours.

Humayun al-Khani, a police spokesman for the usually conflict-free central province of Bamiyan, said Taliban fighters attacked several checkpoints, resulting in violent clashes during the night.

Meanwhile, the parliamentarian from Ghazni, Khudad Arfani, said that the “Taliban” took control of the areas of Khoja Omari, Wa’ez and Muqur, after carrying out simultaneous attacks on the mentioned areas.

He added, in press statements on Tuesday, that the Afghan security forces withdrew from the aforementioned areas, following the Taliban attack on them.

He explained that the “Taliban” may control the entirety of Ghazni if ​​the situation continues in this way.

In turn, the “Taliban” announced its control of 5 areas, during the last 24 hours.

The Taliban still control the town of Sher Khan Bandar, an important commercial crossing on the border with Tajikistan.

Shafiqullah Atay, head of the Afghan Chamber of Commerce and Investment, said that the Taliban had appointed its men to run the chamber’s offices, but trade had stopped. A Taliban spokesman said they had appointed officials to manage the crossing points, which are open to passersby.

In a related context, the Ministry of Defense announced that it had regained control of two areas in the state of Faryab and Barfan, in the north of the country, after it had earlier fallen into the hands of the movement.

The ministry added, in a statement on Tuesday, that the last 24 hours witnessed the implementation of simultaneous operations against the “Taliban”, in 14 provinces, which resulted in the neutralization of 235 elements of the movement, and the injury of 161 others.

These developments coincide with the withdrawal of US forces from Afghanistan, which is scheduled to be completed by next September 11, according to President Joe Biden.

With Qatari mediation, historic peace negotiations were launched in Doha on September 12, 2020, between the Afghan government and the Taliban movement, with the support of the United States, to end 42 years of armed conflict.

Before that, Qatar played the role of mediator in the negotiations between Washington and the Taliban, which resulted in the signing of a historic agreement in late February 2020, for a gradual US withdrawal from Afghanistan and the exchange of prisoners.