Haibatullah Alizai, the commander of the Special Operations Corps, on Wednesday said that the Afghan National Security and Defense Forces (ANDSF) are fighting the Taliban currently in 20 provinces.

He said there is heavy fighting in Kunduz, Kandahar, Helmand, Faryab and Maidan Wardak provinces.

“We had fears about Kandahar, however. three months ago, by the grace of Allah, these concerns are gone. You witnessed the Arghandab operation which started two months ago despite the huge number of landmines,” said Alizai.

The Taliban are currently controlling ten districts in Helmand, Zabul, Jawzjan, Badghis and Badakhshan provinces. The security agencies however have not said that what plans they have made to retake these districts.

Recently the Taliban claimed to have captured Charkh district in Logar.

But the Afghan security officials said that they relocated the government offices from Charkh to another place because of a shortage of facilities.

“They pretend that they are deployed at schools and mosques, but there haven't been any mosques or schools in the area over the past 20 years,” said Matiullah Sarwar, a member of Logar's provincial council.

The government meanwhile sent a delegation to Logar to investigate reports of the collapse of Charkh to the Taliban.

 Residents in Logar have said that the government’s control in Logar’s Kharwar, Barakibarak and Charkh are limited to government buildings.