Taliban Announces Control of Badghis, Afghanistan

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Hessamuddin Shams, the Governor of the Badghis province of Afghanistan, which is on the borders with Turkmenistan, announces that the government forces halted the Taliban's advancements in Qala-e-Naw, the province's capital.

Badghis provincial council Chief Abdul Aziz Bek spoke to local media earlier today, saying that the Taliban had captured parts of the city.

A Sputnik source in the Badghis province told the agency that the Taliban stormed the province's central prison, leading to the release of prisoners without providing an exact number.

First Vice President Amrullah Saleh wrote on his Facebook page that he was aware of the situation in Badghis, noting that "the threat is not serious."

"I am in touch with my colleagues and allies, the local officials and the Afghan forces have a high morale," Saleh said.

Afghan Minister of Defense Bismillah Mohammadi had stated earlier that "the war was entering a difficult stage" with the Taliban after rebels launched their first major attack on the capital of one of the provinces.

"I want to reassure all of you that our national forces, with the support of local resistance forces, will use all their power and resources to defend our homeland and our people," the Minister of Defense added.

Violence and bloody confrontations escalated between the government forces and the hardliner Afghan Taliban movement in light of the stalled negotiations between them to reach a permanent ceasefire agreement, discuss the country's political future, and to withdraw the Western forces from the country.

This comes in conjunction with what the Iranian Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced today regarding the simultaneous presence of four Afghan delegations in Iran to discuss, exchange views, and review bilateral relations with MFA officials.

The Director-General of the Department of West Asian Affairs of the Iranian Ministry of Foreign Affairs said on Twitter that Tehran "simultaneously hosts four Afghan delegations; the Board of Cultural Commission of the Parliament of Afghanistan - a high-ranking Taliban political delegation; the High Political Board of the Republic, and the Supreme Board, which oversees the process of establishing the identity of citizens."