Taliban militants have captured a key district in Afghanistan’s northern province of Kunduz, officials said.
The fighters attacked from several directions and government troops were forced to retreat to Kunduz city, which briefly fell to the Taliban last year, the BBC reports.
A lack of ammunition and reinforcements contributed to the fall of Khanabad district, the local authorities said.
The Taliban had made gains since international troops officially ended their active fighting role in 2014.
Afghan security forces are currently battling the insurgents in nearly half of the country’s 34 provinces.
Earlier this week, the Taliban captured a district in neighbouring Baghlan province.
“The Taliban attacked the district from different positions and we resisted for hours but we received no support,” Reuters news agency quoted Khanabad district administrator, Hayatullah Amiri, as saying on Saturday.