Taliban Attacks Afghan Provincial Capital As US Troop Withdrawal Creates Power Vacuum

As the US military continues its speeded-up troop withdrawal, the Taliban launched its first major assault on a provincial capital in Afghanistan on Wednesday since that announcement, as they press on with a blistering offensive.

Fierce fighting erupted in the western city of Qala-i-Naw, the capital of Badghis, with the militants seizing police headquarters and offices of the country's spy agency.

As news of the morning assault spread, social media was flooded with videos of clashes -- with some showing armed Taliban fighters on motorbikes entering the city as onlookers cheered.

Afghanistan's Defence Minister Bismillah Mohammadi said government forces were in a "very sensitive military situation", adding that "the war is raging" with the Taliban.

The onslaught came hours after Washington announced US forces had completed more than 90 percent of their withdrawal from Afghanistan, and as the Kabul government held talks with Taliban representatives in neighboring Iran.

The militants have waged a dizzying campaign across Afghanistan since US and NATO forces announced the final withdrawal from the country in early May, seizing dozens of districts and stirring fears that the government is in crisis.

"The enemy has entered the city, all the districts have fallen," Badghis governor Hessamuddin Shams told reporters in a text message.

Over the years, the Taliban have launched periodic assaults on provincial capitals across the country, briefly holding urban areas before being dislodged by US airstrikes and Afghan ground forces.