Hundreds of Taliban militants stormed a provincial capital in southern Afghanistan on Thursday and were fighting on multiple fronts with government forces, officials said.

Afghan officials deployed reinforcements to Tarin Kot, in Uruzgan province, and Afghan and U.S.-led NATO warplanes were carrying out airstrikes in an attempt to deter the latest Taliban advance against a strategic city.

One security official in Uruzgan said provincial officials had sought shelter at the local airport, home to an Afghan army brigade, in a sign that the battle was not going the government’s way.

“Afghan forces have lost overall control of the whole city,” said the official, requesting anonymity because he wasn’t authorized to speak to the media.

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A Twitter account affiliated with the Taliban boasted that the city “was about to fall” and that its fighters were “combing the streets” of Tarin Kot. In a statement, the militant group called on Afghan security forces to stand down, saying it would “forgive and guarantee the life, property and honor of those who give up fighting.”

“We see them as our brothers,” the statement said.

The police chief in Uruzgan, Mohammad Wais Samimi, said by phone from Tarin Kot: “Our forces have been trying to push back the Taliban as fighting is going on in three parts of the city.”

Afghan officials said the powerful police chief of neighboring Kandahar province, Gen. Abdul Razaq, had arrived in Uruzgan with his forces and would help lead “a clearing operation.”

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A spokesman for U.S.-led coalition forces declined to comment on the operation as it was ongoing.

One of the areas under attack was Sarchakhlai, just a few hundred yards from the provincial police headquarters. Taliban fighters were separated from the headquarters only by a dry riverbed.

Samimi said the Taliban launched an assault on the outskirts of Tarin Kot five days ago and Afghan forces responded with airstrikes and ground operations.

The spokesman for the Afghan interior ministry, Sediq Sediqqi, said Afghan special forces soldiers were sent to Tarin Kot on Wednesday night.

In three days of fighting, 250 Taliban fighters had been killed or wounded, said Dost Mohammad Nayab, a spokesman for the provincial governor. Eleven Afghan soldiers and police were killed and 17 injured, he said. It was not possible to confirm the figures.

No civilians had been killed, but several families had fled Tarin Kot for neighboring provinces, Nayab said.

Tarin Kot resident Ahmad Shah, a journalist who was stuck in his office, said, “The city is abandoned.”

Uruzgan sits on the border of the southern province of Helmand, the hub of Afghanistan’s poppy production. Taliban fighters control several districts in Helmand and in recent weeks have sought to erode the government’s grip on the capital of that province, Lashkar Gah.

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The Taliban offensive in Helmand in August prompted the U.S. military to launch airstrikes near Lashkar Gah and deploy more than 100 ground troops to advise Afghan forces.

Special correspondent Faizy reported from Kabul and staff writer Bengali from Mumbai, India.

shashank.bengali@latimes.com

Follow @SBengali on Twitter for more news from South Asia

UPDATES:

9:05 a.m.: This article was updated with casualty figures and other details.

This article was originally published at 3:20 a.m.</s>Hundreds of Taliban militants stormed a provincial capital in southern Afghanistan on Thursday and were fighting on multiple fronts with government forces, city officials said.

Afghan officials deployed police reinforcements to Tarin Kot, in Uruzgan province, in an attempt to deter the latest Taliban advance against a strategic city.

One security official in Uruzgan said provincial officials had sought shelter at the local airport, home to an Afghan army brigade, in a sign that the battle was not going the government’s way.

“Afghan forces have lost overall control of the whole city,” said the official, requesting anonymity because he wasn’t authorized to speak to the media.

A Twitter account affiliated with the Taliban boasted that the city “was about to fall” and that its fighters were “combing the streets” of Tarin Kot. In a statement, the militant group called on Afghan security forces to stand down, saying they would “forgive and guarantee the life, property and honor of those who give up fighting.”

“We see them as our brothers,” the statement said.

The police chief in Uruzgan, Mohammad Wais Samimi, said by phone from Tarin Kot: “Our forces have been trying to push back the Taliban as fighting is going on in three parts of the city.”

One of the areas under attack was Sarchakhlai, just a few hundred yards from the provincial police headquarters. Taliban fighters were separated from the headquarters only by a dry riverbed.

Samimi said the Taliban launched their assault on the outskirts of Tarin Kot five days ago and Afghan forces responded with airstrikes and ground operations.

The spokesman for the Afghan interior ministry, Sediq Sediqqi, said Afghan special forces soldiers were sent to Tarin Kot Wednesday night.

There was no information about casualties.

Tarin Kot resident Ahmad Shah, a journalist who was stuck in his office, said, “The city is abandoned.”

Uruzgan sits on the border of the southern province of Helmand, the hub of Afghanistan’s poppy production. Taliban fighters control several districts in Helmand and in recent weeks have sought to erode the government’s grip on the capital of that province, Lashkar Gah.

The Taliban offensive in Helmand in August prompted the U.S. military to launch airstrikes near Lashkar Gah and deploy more than 100 ground troops to advise Afghan forces.

Special correspondent Faizy reported from Kabul and staff writer Bengali from Mumbai, India.

Follow @SBengali on Twitter for more news from South Asia</s>KABUL, Sept 8 (Reuters) - Taliban forces were fighting within the capital of Afghanistan's central province of Uruzgan on Thursday, threatening government offices as the leadership fled to the airport, officials said.

Militants had fought their way to within a few hundred metres of the governor's compound and police headquarters while gun battles spread in the provincial capital of Tarin Kot, a city of about 70,000 people, said provincial police chief Wais Samim.

The militant offensive, and the apparent government collapse in some areas, was reminiscent of the Taliban's speedy but brief capture of Kunduz city last year, the first time the group had seized a provincial capital since they lost power in 2001.

Top provincial leaders in Uruzgan had retreated to the airport, which houses an Afghan military base, according a police official who asked not to be named as he was not authorized to speak to the media.

In separate phone interviews with Reuters, security officials were already assigning blame for the apparent collapse of the defences.

Police chief Samim said many of the city's police had made deals with the Taliban and left their checkpoints without a fight, while another police official accused the province's senior leadership of abandoning the city.

Late on Wednesday, the Taliban released a statement promising government forces protection if they surrendered peacefully.

The city's prison had fallen to the advancing militants, but its occupants had previously been transferred to the airport, said Abdul Karim, head of the Uruzgan provincial council.

In a statement online, the Taliban said their fighters had entered the city and overrun at least seven checkpoints as well as the prison, with city officials taking the prisoners as "hostages" and fleeing to the airport.

"Street to street clashes are currently taking place against the enemy inside the city," the statement said.

Last year, Kunduz was retaken by the government only after nearly two weeks of fighting, with American special forces and warplanes backing up elite Afghan troops.

A spokesman for the U.S. military command in Kabul said officials were monitoring the situation, but as of Wednesday there were no coalition advisers in Uruzgan and no American air strikes had been conducted this week.

At least 69 coalition troops died in Uruzgan province during nearly a decade and a half of international military efforts to defeat the Taliban and other militant groups after 2001. (Reporting by Mohammed Stanekzai in Lashkar Gah and Sayed Sarwar Amani in Kandahar. Writing by Josh Smith. Editing by Nick Macfie)</s>KANDAHAR, Afghanistan (AP) — The Taliban pushed into the capital of Afghanistan's southern Uruzgan province on Thursday, triggering fierce clashes and sending all government officials fleeing from the city, an Afghan official said.

The insurgents' surprise attack left authorities in control only of Tirin Kot's police headquarters, which the Taliban were besieging since the morning hours, according to The provincial spokesman, Doost Mohammad Nayab.

Nayab said that all checkpoints around the city have been overrun or destroyed and appealed to the government in Kabul for quick reinforcements. He did not provide a casualty toll but said he feared that the city will soon completely fall to the insurgents.

Hundreds of Taliban are involved in the assault, Nayab added, without giving any specifics.

However, within hours, the Afghan Ministry of Defense said the Taliban had been repelled from Tirin Kot. Mohammad Radmanish, the ministry's deputy spokesman, said the army, police and intelligence service headquarters in the city have all been secured.

Radmanish insisted that all strategic locations in Tirin Kot, a city with a population of about 72,000, are now under government control and that reinforcements are on the way to the Uruzgan provincial capital.

Air support has been called in and Afghan airstrikes have killed several Taliban fighters in Tirin Kot, he added. The Taliban did not immediately issue any statements to media about the attack on Tirin Kot.

Nayab later said that Afghan and U.S. air force were pounding the Taliban with airstrikes, forcing them to step back from city. Afghan state TV reported from Tirin Kot that all shops, bakeries and pharmacies were closed and that the residents were fleeing.

One resident, shopkeeper Sultan Muhammad, said he fled and was making his way south to the city of Kandahar, the provincial capital of neighboring Kandahar province.

"We civilians are fed up with both the Taliban and the government, we don't care who is coming and who is going, we just want peace," he said, speaking to The Associated Press over the phone. He said the Taliban had pushed inside Tirin Kot, where they are now "attacking government buildings inside the city."

Tirin Kot is the third Afghan provincial capital that has come under Taliban threat recently, along with the city of Kunduz in the north and Lashkar Gah in southern Helmand province.

The uptick in Taliban attacks against Afghan security forces has prompted the United States to send additional troops to the southern Helmand province, where its capital, Lashkar Gah, is also under heavy pressure from the insurgents. The provincial council head Kareem Atal earlier said that roughly 80 percent of Helmand is already under Taliban control.

Since August, Taliban fighters have attacked Afghan security forces in northern Kunduz province, briefly taking control of a district headquarters. The militants also overran a district in northern Baghlan province and in eastern Paktia province. Meanwhile, in eastern Nangarhar province, Taliban militants are fighting pitched battles with security forces.

The Taliban are also believed to have captured much of Uruzgan province.

Afghanistan's Ministry of Defense says its security forces are currently waging operations in 15 provinces.

Also on Thursday, a bomb blast struck in front of a pharmacy in a crowded market in the northeastern province of Baghlan, killing nine people and wounding 15, a spokesman for the provincial police chief, Jaweed Basharat, said. He said children were among those killed when the bomb, which was attached to a bicycle, exploded.

In Kabul, a sticky bomb attached to a motorcycle exploded in Kabul, killing one civilian and wounding two others, police officer Gulam Jan said.</s>KABUL, Sept 8 (Reuters) - Taliban forces were fighting within the capital of Afghanistan's central province of Uruzgan on Thursday, threatening government offices as the leadership fled to the airport, officials said.

Militants had fought their way to within a few hundred metres of the governor's compound and police headquarters while gun battles spread in the provincial capital of Tarin Kot, a city of about 70,000 people, said provincial police chief Wais Samim. (Reporting by Mohammed Stanekzai in Lashkar Gah and Sayed Sarwar Amani in Kandahar. Writing by Josh Smith. Editing by Nick Macfie)</s>Afghan forces encircled by Taliban in provincial capital, officials say

KANDAHAR, Afghanistan, Sept 9 (Reuters) - Exhausted Afghan security forces were surrounded on Friday by Taliban fighters in the capital of Afghanistan's south-central province of Uruzgan, a day after fighting off a concerted push by the militants, officials said.

The Taliban attack, in one of the country's top opium-producing areas, has exposed how thinly stretched Afghan security forces have become as they try to contain Islamist insurgents in other areas of the country.

Taliban insurgents had battled their way on Thursday to within a few hundred metres (yards) of key government buildings in Tarin Kot, the provincial capital home to as many as 70,000 people, while many local leaders fled to a nearby airport.

Bolstered by reinforcements and air support, Afghan troops pushed the Taliban out of the city by nightfall, but the situation remains serious, said Dost Mohammed Nayab, a spokesman for the Uruzgan governor.

"The Taliban are still in surrounding areas of the city," he said. "Our forces are exhausted and are running short of ammunition."

Overnight clashes left at least seven dead on the government side and 30 among the Taliban, said Abdul Karim, head of the Uruzgan provincial council.

He accused the Taliban of using civilians as human shields, complicating efforts to drive out the insurgents. "It will take more attention and effort to clear all areas," he added.

The Taliban on Thursday rejected claims by government officials of high casualties among the attackers.

In a statement, the militant groups said its fighters had overrun more than a dozen checkpoints and seized many weapons and other equipment from retreating troops.

Photos posted online by the Taliban purport to show fighters looting and burning what appears to be a government military base.

At least 69 coalition troops died in Uruzgan during nearly a decade and a half of international military efforts to defeat the Taliban and other militant groups after 2001.

About 16,000 NATO and allied troops remain in Afghanistan, mostly in an advising and counterterrorism mission, but as of Thursday, U.S. officials said they had no troops in Uruzgan, nor had they conducted any air strikes.

The province is in a part of south-central Afghanistan long dominated by the Taliban and warlords who vie for access to its lucrative smuggling routes and illicit drug production. (Reporting by Sayed Sarwar Amani; Writing by Josh Smith; Editing by Clarence Fernandez)</s>KANDAHAR, Afghanistan (AP) — The Taliban pushed into the capital of Afghanistan's southern Uruzgan province on Thursday, triggering fierce clashes and sending all government officials fleeing from the city, an Afghan official said.

The insurgents' surprise attack left authorities in control only of Tirin Kot's police headquarters, which the Taliban were besieging since the morning hours, according to The provincial spokesman, Doost Mohammad Nayab.

Nayab said that all checkpoints around the city have been overrun or destroyed and appealed to the government in Kabul for quick reinforcements. He did not provide a casualty toll but said he feared that the city will soon completely fall to the insurgents.

However, within hours, the Afghan Ministry of Defense said the Taliban had been repelled from Tirin Kot. Mohammad Radmanish, the ministry's deputy spokesman, said the army, police and intelligence service headquarters in the city have all been secured.

Radmanish insisted that all strategic locations in Tirin Kot are under government control and that reinforcements are on the way to the Uruzgan provincial capital.

Air support has been called in and Afghan airstrikes have killed several Taliban fighters in Tirin Kot, he added.

The Taliban did not immediately issue any statements to media about the attack.

Tirin Kot is the third Afghan provincial capital that has come under Taliban threat recently, along with the city of Kunduz in the north and Lashkar Gah in southern Helmand province.

The uptick in Taliban attacks against Afghan security forces has prompted the United States to send additional troops to the southern Helmand province, where its capital, Lashkar Gah, is also under heavy pressure from the insurgents. The provincial council head Kareem Atal earlier said that roughly 80 percent of Helmand is already under Taliban control.

Since August, Taliban fighters have attacked Afghan security forces in northern Kunduz province, briefly taking control of a district headquarters. The militants also overran a district in northern Baghlan province and in eastern Paktia province. Meanwhile, in eastern Nangarhar province, Taliban militants are fighting pitched battles with security forces.

Afghanistan's Ministry of Defense says its security forces are currently waging operations in 15 provinces.

Also on Thursday, a sticky bomb attached to a motorcycle exploded in Kabul, killing one civilian and wounding two others, police officer Gulam Jan said.

Associated Press Writer Amir Shah in Kabul contributed to this report.</s>Heavy clashes are underway in provincial capital of southern Uruzgan province of Afghanistan as the Taliban insurgents have launched a coordinated attack to take control of the key district.

Provincial police chief Wais Samimi said clashes between the Afghan forces and the Taliban insurgents are underway since several days but the gun battle intensified earlier today.

Officials in the provincial council have warned that the control of the provincial would soon fall if additional troops and logistics were not provided soon.

The Taliban militants group however have claimed that they have taken control of several security posts as the provincial capital is under the siege of the group.

In the meantime, the association of free journalists of Afghanistan have said the lives of at least 26 journalists are under the threat as the Taliban group threatens the provincial capital.

Uruzgan is among the relatively volatile provinces in southern Afghanistan where the Taliban insurgents are actively operating in a number of its remote districts.

The coordinated attack on Tarinkot city comes as the Taliban group aims to take control of the strategic cities as part of their spring offensive to weaken the government’s stance in the ongoing insurgency that has entered to its 15th year.

Follow Khaama Press (KP) | Afghan News Agency on Twitter, become a fan on Facebook. Stay updated via RSS</s>US warplanes unleashed three strikes on Friday in Afghanistan’s province of Uruzgan, where Afghan security forces remained surrounded by Taliban fighters a day after having fought back a concerted push by the militants.

The Taliban attack, in one of the country’s top opium-producing areas, has exposed how thinly stretched Afghan security forces have become as they try to contain Islamist insurgents in other areas of the country.

Taliban insurgents on Thursday battled their way to within a few hundred metres of key government buildings in Tarin Kot, a city of about 70,000 and capital of the south-central province, while many local leaders fled to a nearby airport.

In the capital, Kabul, the American military command confirmed that its warplanes had conducted at least three air strikes, with aircraft of the Afghan air force also providing support.

Bolstered by reinforcements and air support, Afghan troops pushed the Taliban out of the city by nightfall, but the situation remains serious, said Dost Mohammed Nayab, a spokesman for the Uruzgan governor.

“The Taliban are still in surrounding areas of the city,” he said. “Our forces are exhausted and are running short of ammunition.”

Overnight clashes left at least seven dead on the government side and 30 among the Taliban, said Abdul Karim, head of the Uruzgan provincial council.

He accused the Taliban of using civilians as human shields, complicating efforts to drive out the insurgents. “It will take more attention and effort to clear all areas,” he added.

The Taliban on Thursday rejected government officials’ claims of high casualties among the attackers, saying in a statement they had overrun more than a dozen checkpoints and seized many weapons and other equipment from retreating troops.

Photos posted online by the Taliban purport to show fighters looting and burning what appears to be a government military base.

About 16,000 NATO and allied troops remain in Afghanistan, mostly in advisory and counterterrorism roles, but also regularly launching air strikes in support of Afghan operations.

At least 69 coalition troops died in Uruzgan during nearly a decade and a half of international military efforts to defeat the Taliban and other militant groups after 2001.

The province is in a part of Afghanistan long dominated by the Taliban and warlords who vie for access to its lucrative smuggling routes and illicit drug production.</s>LASHKAR GAH, Afghanistan, Sept 7 (Reuters) - Taliban forces have fought their way to within a few kilometers of the capital of Afghanistan's central province of Uruzgan, officials said on Wednesday, warning of its collapse unless authorities provide air support and ground reinforcements.

The Taliban are battling to topple the Western-backed government of Afghanistan 15 years after they lost power in a U.S.-led military operation.

Overstretched Afghan security forces and their foreign military advisers have focused on blunting Taliban attacks in southern Helmand province and the northern city of Kunduz, besides battling Islamic State militants in eastern Nangarhar.

Many of the embattled police and soldiers around the Uruzgan capital of Tarin Kot are fighting with minimal reinforcements and often with insufficient food and ammunition, say regional officials.

"If there is no significant air support and ground reinforcement, Tarin Kot will collapse," warned Abdul Karim, head of the provincial capital.

Security forces have halted the Taliban advance about 2 km (1.2 miles) from the city's prison, whose prisoners the militants seek to free, officials suspect, using a tactic the Taliban employed when they briefly captured Kunduz last year.

In a posting online, the Taliban claimed to have overrun 15 government outposts, including a "strategic military base" in Uruzgan.

"All the surrounding areas of the capital are under tight siege and attacks of mujahideen," the group said.

Despite the Taliban offensives in Uruzgan, the NATO-led coalition, which declared its combat mission over at the end of 2014, said it had no advisers in the province, nor had U.S. warplanes conducted any air strikes in recent days.

The insurgents would not be able to break through security cordons, said Dost Mohammed Nayab, the spokesman of the provincial governor.

"The Taliban did whatever they could to get the capital city but they couldn't," he said. "We are ready to defend our province."

At least 32 Taliban have been killed and another 23 wounded, Nayab said, with six security forces killed and nine wounded.

Taliban forces continue to threaten the Helmand capital of Lashkar Gah, where militants once again cut a major highway to neighbouring Kandahar, said Omar Zwak, the spokesman of the provincial governor.

Coalition advisers were recently sent back into the city to help police based there, but a U.S. military spokesman said the soldiers would have a non-combat role. (Writing by Josh Smith; Editing by Clarence Fernandez)
Taliban militants storm the city of Tarinkot, the provincial capital of Afghanistan's Urozgan Province, with fighting reported on multiple fronts throughout the city. Local officials flee to the nearby Tarinkot Airport for shelter.