Dubai. July 7. INTERFAX-Afghan Defense Minister Bismillah Khan Mohammadi described the military situation in the country as critical.
"We recognize that the war is raging in Afghanistan and that the military situation in the country is extremely sensitive. The war has entered a decisive, critical phase, " the minister said, quoted by the Afghan media.
At the same time, Mohammadi stressed that "it is not the first time that the people of Afghanistan are going through difficult times." "The security forces, together with the local resistance forces, will protect the people," the Defense Minister assured.
Against the background of the beginning of the withdrawal of US military contingents from Afghanistan and their NATO allies, the militants of the radical Taliban movement (banned in the Russian Federation) have intensified hostilities, capturing more and more new areas of the country, including in the north near the border with Tajikistan and Uzbekistan. In some cases, the Taliban militants came close to the administrative centers of a number of provinces of Afghanistan.
However, until recently, the Taliban stated that at the moment they do not plan to seize the administrative centers of the provinces. "Our task is to complete the implementation of plans to take control of a number of roads, districts," Taliban spokesman Zabiullah Mujahid told the EFE news agency earlier.
Meanwhile, on Wednesday, militants of the radical movement attempted to storm the city of Kalayi-Nau, the administrative center of Badghis province in northwestern Afghanistan. "The enemy entered the city, all the districts fell. The battles began in the city limits, " the provincial governor Hesamuddin Shams said in a statement.
According to media reports, the Taliban seized the headquarters of the provincial police and the local branch of the National Directorate of Security - the intelligence service of Afghanistan.
Later on Wednesday, the governor said that security forces had launched a counter-offensive and pushed the militants out of some areas of the city.
