KABUL: Afghan security forces have recaptured the main northern border control with Pakistan that the Taliban was briefly arrested, a senior Afghan government official said on Thursday, but the Taliban said that they still held the city.
Taliban fighters seize spin borders of the crossing border on Wednesday, the second most important intersection on the border with Pakistan and the main income source for the Western-supported government in Kabul.
But Afghan forces paired the main market, the customs department and other government installations in the border city a few hours later on Wednesday, a senior government official in the southern province of Kandahar, where the intersection lies, told Reuters.
Government forces, who initially fell back to minimize the losses of civil and security personnel, were carrying out clearing operations, the official said.
He warned that the threat remained high because the Taliban fighters defeated Afghan security forces in the area.
But Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said his troops still held border positions.
“It is only propaganda and claims baseless by the Kabul government,” he told Reuters.
Pakistan, worried about the pile of battles, has closed the border side at the second busiest border which crosses the main commercial arteries between the city of Kandahar and the second Pakistan in Afghanistan.
Clashes between Taliban and government forces have increased when the US-led international forces have been attractive and the Taliban have captured several districts and other border crossings in the north and west.
The ‘important leader’ with security deteriorates sharply, diplomatic efforts focused on pushing the side of Afghan rival to make progress towards a ceasefire at the conversation that they had held in Qatar.
President Ashraf Ghani will meet with regional leaders in Uzbekistan on Thursday because the deteriorating security raises fears of the Afghan and Pakistani refugee crisis saying it will host the Senior Afghan leader conference in an effort to find a solution.
Pakistan many years accused of supporting the Taliban with the aim of blocking the influence of India’s rival in Afghanistan.
Pakistan denied that.
“Important Afghan leaders, including Hamid Karzai, have been invited,” Pakistani Information Minister Fawad Chaudhry, said on Twitter, referring to the former Afghan president who remained an influential figure in Kabul.
Chaudhry said Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan spoke with Karzai on Wednesday.
He was not complicated but told Reuters, the Taliban leaders would not attend when Pakistan held separate talks with them.
Karzai and some Afghan political leaders are expected to fly to Qatar this weekend for talks with Taliban members who have offices in the capital, Doha.
Islamic militants ruled Afghanistan from 1996 to their Ouster in 2001, a few weeks after the September 11, 2001 attacks, in the United States.
They were fought for to expel foreign forces and dropped the west-supported government in Kabul.