Taliban militants have seized a district in the northern Afghan province of Baghlan after days of heavy fighting, local officials said.
Police officials said government forces had abandoned the district center of Tala Wa Bafrak on May 8 after being cut off from supplies.
"The Taliban have been attacking the district for a few days and at 11 a.m. we had to retreat," said provincial police spokesman Zabihullah Shuja.
District Governor Ismail Barfaki was quoted by local media as saying that three police force members were wounded in the clashes.
Barfaki said dozens of Taliban fighters have come from Samangan and Kunduz provinces as well as from other parts of Baghlan to fight government forces in Tala Wa Barfak.
Afghan media reported that heavy fighting continued between security forces and Taliban fighters in the district's outskirts.
On May 5, government forces recaptured the northern Kohistan district that was briefly seized by the Taliban in a surprise attack two days earlier.
Kohistan is located in the province of Badakhshan, where the Taliban controls two of the province’s 28 districts.