Taliban capture former Afghan warlord after Herat falls

Former Mujahideen leader and senior member of Jamaat-e-Islami party, Ismail Khan, whose militia helped US forces topple the Taliban in 2001, was captured on Friday by the Taliban along with other top government officials, local media citing sources said.

The capture of Khan and Afghan government officials, including the governor, police chief, head of the NDS office comes after the terrorist group seized the western city of Herat, Afghanistan's third-biggest city.

"Sources said all government officials, including governor, police chief, head of the NDS office, ex-mujahedeen leader Mohammad Ismail Khan, the deputy minister of interior for security, and the 207 Zafar Corps commander have surrendered to the Taliban after Herat fell to the Taliban," TOLO News said in a tweet.

On Thursday, the Taliban claimed to have seized Herat amid US troop withdrawal from the country. Herat "was also captured," Sputnik reported citing a Taliban statement.

Buildings in the province, including the police headquarters, came under Taliban control, and government forces "laid down their arms," it added.

Local media and journalists posted images and videos of Afghan forces fleeing from the city in the western part of Afghanistan.

Earlier the same day, the Taliban captured Ghazni, the country's tenth provincial city to fall under Taliban control.

Afghanistan is witnessing a surge in violence as the Taliban has intensified its offensive against Afghan forces and civilians with the complete pullback of foreign forces just a few weeks away.

Due to rising violence in the country by the Taliban, the situation is deteriorating badly as the terror group has been looting people and killing civilians after capturing multiple areas from the government.

The Taliban escalated its offensive against the Afghan forces soon after the US forces started leaving Afghanistan in large numbers after the peace deal signed between Washington and the Taliban in February last year.

On Wednesday, President Ashraf Ghani appointed a new chief of army staff in an attempt to give a robust response to the terror group on the ground.

Haibatullah Alizai replaced Wali Mohammad Ahmadzai, as the new chief of army staff. Alizai previously worked as commander of the Afghan National Army Commando.

( With inputs from ANI )