HERAT (Afghanistan): The Taliban launched an offensive yesterday against a key city in western Afghanistan, officials said, the latest in a surge of attacks as the US pushes for a deal that would allow it to begin withdrawing troops.
Dozens of Taliban fighters assaulted Farah city, the capital of Farah province, early in the day and seized an Afghan army recruitment centre, Farooq Barakzai, the spokesman for Farah’s provincial governor, told AFP. Taliban spokesman Qari Yousuf Ahmadi meanwhile said a “massive operation” was under way in the province.
The remote poppy-growing region that borders Iran has been the scene of intense fighting in recent years, and there have long been fears that its capital is vulnerable. Interior ministry spokesman Nasrat Rahimi said the Taliban had suffered “heavy blows” and would be “eliminated very soon”. – AFP
