KABUL, 08 August 2021, (TON): The Taliban has captured Sheberghan city in Jawzjan, the second Afghan provincial capital to fall to the armed group in less than 24 hours.

The deputy governor of Sheberghan said that government forces and officials had retreated to the airport on the outskirts of the northern Afghan city, where they were preparing to defend themselves.

Qader Malia told media “the city has unfortunately fallen completely,”

“The government forces and officials have retreated to the airport.” Provincial councillor Bismillah Sahil said the Taliban fighters had taken over key buildings such as the governor’s office, the police headquarters and the central prison in the city.

However, the pro-government forces were still holding some areas inside the city such as the airport and an army brigade, according to Mohammad Karim Jawzjani, a parliamentarian who represents Jawzjan. The city is home to notorious strongman Abdul Rashid Dostum, who only returned to Afghanistan this week after medical treatment in Turkey.

Dostum has overseen one of the largest militias in the north, which garnered a fearsome reputation in its fight against the Taliban in the 1990s – along with accusations that his forces massacred thousands of prisoners of war.

The Taliban has gained vast parts of rural Afghanistan since launching a series of offensives in May to coincide with the start of the final withdrawal of foreign troops.

A rout or retreat of Dostum’s fighters would dent the Kabul government’s recent hopes that armed groups could help bolster the country’s overstretched military. On Friday, Zaranj city in Nimroz fell to the Taliban “without a fight”, according to its deputy governor, becoming the first provincial capital to be taken by the armed group.

The Taliban is saying they have control of all the main government buildings, the governor’s compound, of the police and intelligence headquarters.