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2nd LD Writethru: Taliban takes district in Afghanistan's Badakhshan province

Xinhua, June 6, 2015 Adjust font size:

Taliban militants captured a district in Afghanistan's northeastern Badakhshan province on Saturday, the local Tolo television channel reported.

"Following heavy clashes, the Yamgan district was captured by Taliban militants this morning," Tolo said, citing local officials.

Meantime, deputy to Badakhshan provincial government Gul Mohammad Bedar told Xinhua that heavy clashes were still going on between security forces and Taliban militants, and the government was sending reinforcement to dislodge advancing militants from Yamgan district.

On the other hand, an official on the condition of anonymity said that hundreds of Taliban militants begun attacking checkpoints around Yamgan district headquarters late Friday.

A self-proclaimed spokesman for the Taliban outfit Zabihullah Mujahid said the Taliban captured Yamgan district at 10:00 local time (0530 GMT) and the government forces retreated from the area.

Badakhshan has been the scene of Taliban-led militancy over the past year and the militants killed 28 government troops in Yamgan' s neighbroing Jarm district last month. Endi