MAIMANA - Local officials on Tuesday said hundreds of Taliban militants stormed the headquarters of Almar district in northern Faryab province, killing two policemen. They warned the district would collapse if reinforcements did not arrive.
Mohammad Saleh Saleh, the Almar district chief, told Pajhwok Afghan News that the Taliban attacked the district center on Monday night, sparking a battle that killed two policemen.
Having no information if the Taliban had suffered any casualties, Saleh accused the government of negligence and not equipping security forces.
He said the government should have launched a clearing operation long ago and that the Taliban outnumbered local security forces at least 10 times.
Saleh also claimed the Taliban were running a bomb making factory in Abgardan area of the district, which they captured five months ago.
The Taliban had so far attacked the district center and the district police building many times during the past two weeks, the official said.
Saleh said the central government and provincial governments had ignored these attacks and warned the district would fall to the Taliban if the situation continued.
Meanwhile, Mohammad HanifBai, Faryab highway commander, said his forces had reached the district center soon after the Taliban launched attack on it on Monday night.
He said his nephew, TurdiPahlawan and a sergeant were killed during the clash with the Taliban in Almar district center.
Gen. GhulamFaroqQatay, an uprising commander in Almar, also criticized the government for negligence and said only five of 90 villages in the district were under the government control.
Faryab police spokesman Abdul Karim Yurish confirmed the loss of two policemen in the battle with Taliban in Almar district on Monday night and said that the rebels had also suffered casualties. However, he had no exact figures. (Pajhwok)