KABUL: The Taliban on Saturday claimed to have overrun at least five districts in various parts of war-ravaged Afghanistan amid escalating violence, the Anadolu Agency reported.

The group’s spokesman, Zabihullah Mujahed, stated in a series of tweets that the Taliban seized control of these districts in the southern provinces of Zabul and Uruzgan, as well as the central and eastern provinces of Ghazni and Nuristan, respectively, reports said.

The country’s Interior Ministry, however, rejected the Taliban’s claims, with spokesman Tariq Arian said that the security forces only went on a “strategic retreat” in Zabul, added reports.

Prior to this, the Taliban claimed to have taken control of four districts in the Maidan Wardak, Baghlan, and Laghman provinces, which Afghan officials dubbed a “strategic retreat” in order to save civilian casualties, reports added.

This comes a little over three months before the complete departure of the US forces from Afghanistan, which already started on May 1, 2021. (Anadolu agency)