The commander of 209 Shaheen Army Corps, General Khanullah Shuja, on Wednesday said that the security forces have launched a major operation which is aimed to retake the territory lost to the Taliban in recent weeks.

He said that the defense of Mazar-e-Sharif is strong and that the Taliban will not be allowed to take over the city.

“There was speculation that the enemy would infiltrate the city, there were rumors that Marmul and Dehdadi have collapsed, no area has collapsed and will not collapse,” said General Khanullah Shuja.

Pul-e-Imam Bekri is currently the main battleground between the Taliban and the Afghan security forces in Balkh province in the north of Afghanistan. It is 20 kilometers from Mazar-e-Sharif city.

“To the east of this checkpoint is Balkh district, in the south, there is Chimtal and Sholgara districts. The Taliban are present around this checkpoint,” said Omar, a soldier in Balkh.

“We are ready to sacrifice our lives for this country; we will stay there forever as long as we are alive,” said Hafizullah, an Afghan National Police officer in Balkh.

“We are here to resist to the lost drop of our blood,” said Naweed, an ANP officer.

“We will move forward, we will not return to the past,” said Ghausuddin, an Afghan special operations officer in Balkh.

With the expansion of security threats in northern Afghanistan, hundreds of people in Balkh, Jawzjan, Sar-e-Pul and Faryab provinces have taken up arms in support of the Afghan National Security and Defense Forces (ANDSF).