dpa
Kabul
Taliban militants killed doctors and patients in a district in Afghanistan's central Ghor province before setting fire to a hospital on Sunday, an official said.~
Around 10 to 12 doctors and patients, including children, were killed when the Taliban opened fire on them inside the Taywara district centre hospital, Abdul Basir Qaderi, a member of Ghor council, told dpa.
"What did the children do to these people?"Qaderi said.
The militants had captured Taywara earlier Sunday.
Abdulhai Khatibi, governor spokesman for Ghor, said Afghan forces had made a tactical retreat and will launch an offensive to recapture the district soon but declined to provide further details.~
Taywara district fell to the Taliban early Sunday after several days of fighting between militants and Afghan security forces, Mohammad Mahdavi, deputy chief of the provincial council for Ghor, told dpa.~
Taywara shares borders with two insecure provinces, Farah in the north-west and Helmand in the south, both of which are known as strongholds for Taliban insurgents, Mahdavi said.~
"The district was under Taliban attack since Thursday,"Mahdavi said, adding that nearly 70 Afghan security forces were killed and around 30 others wounded.~
According to Mahdavi, members of local police forces suffered the heaviest losses.~
The district's capture opens a corridor for the Taliban, allowing free movement to the west and north.~
Another district in north-western Faryab province also fell to the Taliban early Sunday.~
"A large number of Taliban [attacked] Kohistan district centre from several directions around 9 pm (0430 GMT) on Saturday,"said Javed Bedar, a spokesman for the Faryab governor.~
According to Bedar, both Afghan security forces and Taliban militants suffered casualties, but there was no information yet on exact numbers.
Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid confirmed that the militants had captured both Taywara and Kohistan district centres, claiming in a Twitter post that they killed scores of Afghan security forces and captured of large amount of weapons.~
In the past days, Afghan forces have been fighting the Taliban on several fronts: in Kunduz and Baghlan in the north, Badakhshan in the north-east, and Helmand and Kandahar in the south.