Taliban overruns district close to Afghan capital

Amid the recent surge in violence, the Taliban overran a district in Wardak province in central Afghanistan near Kabul.

The Taliban attacked the Nerkh district center despite the fact that the group has declared a three-day unilateral cease fire for Ramzan, American news website FDD's Long War Journal reported.

Afghan Interior Ministry said that the Afghan National Defence and Security forces have made a "tactical retreat" from the region following heavy clashes on Tuesday afternoon. The Khaama Press reported that Afghan Defence forces retreated after inflicting heavy casualties on the Taliban.

"The district center of Nerkh in Maidan Wardak province, the police headquarters, the intelligence department, and a large army base there were all captured," Taliban spokesperson Zabihullah Mujahid said in a tweet.

"Many enemy soldiers were killed, wounded and many Mujahideen were captured alive. Mujahidin have seized all weapons, ammunition, and military vehicles in the district and base," he added.

A total of 255 civilians were killed and 500 more were wounded in the attacks during the Ramzan period and the Taliban were responsible for 200 blasts and 15 suicide bombings during this period, TOLOnews reported the interior ministry as saying.

Taliban on Sunday night announced that they would observe a three-day ceasefire for the festival of Eid. Later on Monday, Afghan President Ashraf Ghani also instructed all Afghan forces to observe the ceasefire during Eid.

Amid the ongoing drawdown of US troops from Afghanistan, the war-torn country has seen a spike in the incidents of violence in recent weeks, leading to casualties of Afghan security forces and civilians.

( With inputs from ANI )