The Taliban pushed into the capital of Afghanistan’s southern Uruzgan province on Thursday, triggering fierce clashes and sending all government officials fleeing from the city, an Afghan official said.
(CBS)- The insurgents’ surprise attack left authorities in control only of Tirin Kot’s police headquarters, which the Taliban were besieging since the morning hours, according to the provincial spokesman, Doost Mohammad Nayab.
Nayab said that all checkpoints around the city have been overrun or destroyed and appealed to the government in Kabul for quick reinforcements. He did not provide a casualty toll but said he feared that the city will soon completely fall to the insurgents.
Hundreds of Taliban are involved in the assault, Nayab added, without giving any specifics.
However, within hours, the Afghan Ministry of Defense said the Taliban had been repelled from Tirin Kot. Mohammad Radmanish, the ministry’s deputy spokesman, said the army, police and intelligence service headquarters in the city have all been secured.
Radmanish insisted that all strategic locations in Tirin Kot, a city with a population of about 72,000, are now under government control and that reinforcements are on the way to the Uruzgan provincial capital.
Air support has been called in and Afghan airstrikes have killed several Taliban fighters in Tirin Kot, he added. The Taliban did not immediately issue any statements to media about the attack on Tirin Kot.