Taliban militants have increased the amount of territory they have influence over or controls in Afghanistan in the past six months, a US watchdog agency reported on Tuesday, as the militant group has stepped up attacks in recent weeks.
As of August, 13 percent of the 407 districts in Afghanistan were under Taliban control or influence, compared with 11 percent in February, according to a report from the Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction, or SIGAR. That means an additional 700,000 people now live in districts where the Taliban have at least some influence.
Meanwhile Dawlat Waziri, spokesman for Ministry of Defence (MoD), told media that Taliban did not capture any area in recent months. He added that Afghan security forces cleared lots of areas of Taliban insurgents in different provinces including Helmand.
The report, citing the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA), also said there had been a 52 percent increase in civilian casualties from coalition and Afghan air strikes in the first nine months of 2017 compared with the same period in 2016.
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