At least 60 soldiers under siege in Uruzgan’s Gizab district

The district headquarters, the bazaar, the police headquarters and the National Directorate of Security (NDS) compound in Gizab district in Uruzgan province have fallen to the Taliban after days of fighting, local officials said Monday.

Uruzgan provincial council secretary Abdul Karim Khadimzai said more than 60 soldiers had been trapped in a residential property in the district for the past six days, with food, water and weapons running out.

He said if assistance and supplies are not sent in to them, the entire district will fall to the insurgents.

Khadimzai denied reports that officials had already sent in reinforcements to the district.

Earlier, Uruzgan Governor Mohammad Omar Sherzad said he had defeated the Taliban in Gizab and that the situation was normal.

Meanwhile sources told Ariana News that the Shahrak district of Ghor province has been taken over by the Taliban.

The Taliban have also said they have taken control of the district.

But Ghor Governor Abdul Zahir Faiz Zada denied the claims, adding that security forces had made a tactical retreat from the police headquarters.

The governor said that reinforcement commandos arrived in Ghor on Sunday and will be deployed to the district to suppress the Taliban.

In the past week at least six districts have fallen to the Taliban in various provinces around the country.