Taliban fighters during a military exercise before “Operation al-Khandagh”
On May 23, Taliban fighters launched a new attack in Gelan district of the southeastern province of Ghazni and capture three checkpoints of the Afghan Army and Police, according to the Taliban news agency Voice of Jihad. The source said that Taliban fighters had killed 17 soldiers of the Afghan Army and had injured 7 others during the attack.
Voice of Jihad also reported that the Taliban had developed its offensive in the district of Deh Yak in Ghazni province capturing two checkpoints of the Afghan Army and a large urban region.
Taliban fighters launched a large scale attack on positions of the Afghan Army and Police in the districts of Deh Yak and Jaghatu on May 22. Within hours, the Afghan group captured large parts of these two districts.
On May 19, the Taliban launched a similar attack on the center of the Ajristan district of Ghazni province. A day later, most of the district center fell into the Taliban hands.
The Ministry of Defense of Afghanistan claimed in an official statement that the Afghan Army had repelled several attacks of the Taliban on the districts of Dih Yak, Rashidan, Qarabagh, Ajristan, Malistan, Gelan and Andar during the last 24 hours.
Several Afghan sources warned that Ghazni province will face a catastrophe, if the Afghan Army does not respond to the Taliban attacks. Observers also believe that the Taliban attacks on Ghanzi pose a threat to the southern and eastern provinces of Afghanistan.
