The Taliban have captured an Afghan provincial capital city the first time 2001. Police in the city Zaranj, capital of the southern Nimroz province, said Taliban forces are now control. Nimroz is on the border with Iran. The police there were unable to fight because there were too few government soldiers to help. A Taliban official said it was an important day the group. He said the victory would increase the morale his fighters in other provinces. He added: "This is just the beginning. Other provinces will fall our hands very soon." There is currently heavy fighting the cities Lashkar Gah, Kanduz, Herat and Kandahar. They may fall before the Taliban fight the nation's capital Kabul.
The Taliban are fighting to take control Afghanistan for the first time 2001. This is when US-led forces defeated them the attacks the World Trade Center in New York. The USA and other western powers have spent 20 years trying to train an Afghan army and police officers to keep the country peaceful. However, the Taliban never gave their fight to take the country back. The USA and the UK are currently pulling their forces of Afghanistan. They are ending their time the country 20 years. The UN's special envoy Afghanistan, Deborah Lyons, said the war there had entered "a new, deadlier, and more destructive phase". She warned that the country was heading "catastrophe".
