Taliban captures another district in northern Afghanistan

The Taliban militants took control of another district in northern Afghanistan's province of Kunduz on Monday, sources said.

"The Dasht-e-Archi district was collapsed to the militants' hand after heavy clashes overnight Sunday and they took control of government office buildings and the district bazaar on the wee hours of Monday," a local official told Xinhua.

Sporadic clashes were still going on near the district police station, which is located in surrounding areas of the district, some 40 km northeast of provincial capital Kunduz city, the source added.

Nasruddin Sahadi, the district governor, told Xinhua that the security forces tactically retreated to outer sides of the district center to avoid civilian casualties.

On Saturday, the Taliban militants captured Chardara district about 6 km west of Kunduz city, 250 km north of Afghan capital of Kabul.

The province, bordering Tajikistan, has been the scene of heavy fighting earlier this year as security forces have repelled militants, who tried to take control of several districts near the provincial capital of Kunduz city.

The Taliban-led insurgency has been rampant since April 24 when the militant group launched its so-called annual spring offensive in different places of the militancy-plagued Afghanistan, which had claimed hundreds of lives, including militants, security personnel and civilians. Endi