The Taliban claimed it has seized Farah city, capital of Afghanistan’s western Farah province on Tuesday, a local source confirmed.
“The government security forces have retreated to an army operating base on the outskirts of Farah city roughly in the afternoon on Tuesday. They abandoned the city to prevent civilian casualties,” Shahla Abubaker from the Farah Provincial Council told Xinhua.
Local Tolo News TV reported that the Taliban militants have controlled the provincial government offices, including the provincial police station.
The city has been the scene of clashes in recent days.
The Taliban has reportedly seized Sari Pul, Kunduz, Shiberghan, Aybak and Taluqan cities in the northern region, and Zaranj city in the western part of the country in the past week.
The Afghan government has not confirmed or denied the claim of the Taliban so far.
Fighting has intensified across Afghanistan since May when the U.S.-led forces began to withdraw from the war-torn country.