Taliban fighters have confirmed seizing the Jalrez District in Wardak Province, just some 60 kilometers from Kabul. The district governor’s compound and police headquarters have both been overrun, officials confirmed.
The Afghan Defense Ministry downplayed the loss as a “tactical defeat” and said there is an offensive underway to reclaim it. They confirmed they took no effort to stop the Taliban from taking it in the first place.
That’s been a common theme in the fights, with the military letting the Taliban overpower locals, and then occasionally retaking territory to crow about its “victories.” They’ve described this as an offensive-focused strategy, which the US pushed them to pursue.
Casualties in the districts fall are not clear, but officials claimed 10 Taliban slain in an airstrike. This is the second Wardak district to have fallen in the last two weeks.
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