The Taliban have taken Wardak province bordering Kabul in the west of Kabul, Taliban spokesperson Zabiullah Mujahid claimed.
Zabiullah Mujahid said in a Twitter post that the Maidan Wardak province has fallen to the fighters.
“The police headquarters, the central prison and all its facilities are under the full control of the Mujahideen”, he added.
Zabiullah said that the Afghan officials and forces have “fled to Kabul, and a large number of weapons, vehicles and equipment have fallen into the hands of the Mujahideen.”
The province had been in the control of the Taliban for over a month except the provincial capital Maidan Shar.
Now that the provincial capital is captured, the Taliban have access to Kabul’s western border.
This brings the total number of Kabul’s neighbouring provinces to three out of five toppled by the fighters in the past 12 hours.
The Taliban took Logar province in the south of Kabul on Saturday noon, Laghman province in the east of Kabul on Saturday night, and now Wardak province on Sunday morning.
Parwan and Kapisa are two other neighbouring provinces of Kabul witnessing heavy conflicts between the warring sides. The Afghan government is holding merely control over the capital city of Kapisa province.
Meanwhile, there are reports of Khost province bordering Pakistan in the southeast being surrendered to the Taliban without resistance and confrontations.
On Saturday night, the eastern Nangarhar and Laghman province fell to the Taliban after negotiations with the governors of the Afghan government and the Taliban.
