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30Sep15

District in western Afghanistan falls to Taliban, group claims

As the Taliban presses its northern offensive in Kunduz and Takhar provinces, the group has also continued to attack the Afghan government and military in other theaters. Early this morning, the Taliban claimed that it overran the Khaki Safid district in the southwestern province of Farah.

"Mujahideen of Islamic Emirate [Taliban] in western Farah province launched a large scale attack midnight on Khak-e-Safid district center and all surrounding enemy positions," the Taliban stated on its official website, Voice of Jihad. "The assault resulted in Mujahideen taking over the district administration building, police HQ, a large ANA [Afghan army] outpost and all surrounding enemy defense check posts as well as causing the enemy deadly losses and seizing a sizable amount of enemy arms and equipment."

The Taliban claim cannot be independently confirmed as the reporting in Afghanistan has focused on the deteriorating situation in Kunduz. But in the past, the Taliban has been accurate in its reporting of districts said to have been taken.

Khaki Safid district has been contested for the past year, according to reports from the area. "There are four administrations in Khaki Safid," an Afghan farmer told Reuters earlier this year. "One is the governor. Another is Afghan local police. Another is the Taliban. Another is Daish," he added, using the title popular in South Asia for Islamic State.

The Taliban clashed with the forces of the Islamic State Khorasan Province in Khaki Safid in late May, and repelled an attempt to seize the district.

If the Taliban's takeover of Khaki Safid is confirmed, the jihadist group has taken five districts in three provinces (Khak-e-Safid in Farah; Yangi Qala, Ishkamish, and Bangi districts in Takhar; Khanabad in Kunduz) and the provincial capital of Kunduz in the span of three days.

[Source: By Bill Roggio, Threat Matrix, The Long War Journal, NJ, 30Sep15]
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