Afghanistan’s government has imposed a night-time curfew across most of the country in an attempt to counter surging violence unleashed by a Taliban offensive.

Since early May, when the US-led forces began their withdrawal, Taliban fighters have captured dozens of districts, encircled several provincial capitals and taken key border crossings.

The curfew was imposed between 10pm and 4pm in 31 of the 34 Afghan provinces, all apart from Kabul, Panjshir and Nangarhar.

The Taliban now controls about half of Afghanistan’s roughly 400 districts.

More than 22,000 Afghan families have fled to escape fighting in the former Taliban bastion of Kandahar, according to Afghan officials.

Lalai Dastageri, deputy governor of Kandahar province, said: “The negligence of some security forces, especially the police, has made way for the Taliban to come that close. We are now trying to organise our security forces.”

Four camps have been set up for the displaced families who were estimated to number 154,000 people.

Khan Mohammad, who was in a camp with his family, said: “If they really want to fight, they should go to a desert and fight, not destroy the city. Even if they win, they can’t rule a ghost town.”

Kandahar has a population of 650,000 and is the second-­largest city in the country after Kabul.

The southern province was the epicentre of the Taliban’s regime when they ruled Afghanistan from 1996 to 2001. The US will continue air strikes in support of Afghan forces fighting the Taliban, a top US general said yesterday. “We are prepared to continue this heightened level of support in the coming weeks if the Taliban continue their attacks,” General Kenneth McKenzie, head of the US Army’s Central Command, told reporters in Kabul.

The Taliban’s march through northern Afghanistan gained momentum at the weekend with the capture of several districts from fleeing Afghan forces, several hundred of whom fled across the border into Tajikistan.

More than 300 Afghan military personnel crossed from Afghanistan’s Badakhshan province as Taliban fighters advanced toward the border, Tajikistan’s State Committee for National Security said in a statement.

Since mid-April, when President Joe Biden announced the end to Afghanistan’s “forever war,” the Taliban have made strides throughout the country. But their most significant gains have been in the northern half of the country, a traditional stronghold of the US-allied warlords who helped defeat them in 2001.

The gains in northeastern Badakhshan province in recent days have mostly come to the insurgent movement without a fight, said Mohib-ul Rahman, a provincial council member. He blamed Taliban successes on the poor morale of troops who are mostly outnumbered and without resupplies.

“Unfortunately, the majority of the districts were left to Taliban without any fight,” said Mr Rahman.

Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid confirmed the fall of the districts and said most were without a fight. The Taliban in previous surrenders have shown video of Afghan soldiers taking transportation money and returning to their homes.

Telegraph Media Group Limited [2021]