Air strikes damaged a health clinic and high school in the capital of southern Afghanistan’s Helmand province, a provincial council member said on Sunday.

In northern Kunduz province, Taliban fighters made additional gains.

A Defence Ministry statement confirmed that air strikes were carried out in parts of the city of Lashkar Gah. It said forces targeted Taliban positions, killing 54 fighters and wounding 23 others. It made no mention of a clinic or school being bombed.

Majid Akhund, deputy chairman of the Helmand provincial council, said air strikes hit a health clinic and a school in the city’s 7th police district late on Saturday, but he said the area is under Taliban control so any casualties could have been caused by Taliban there.

A Taliban surge has intensified as US and Nato troops wrap up their withdrawal from the country.

As Taliban attacks increase, Afghan security forces and government troops have retaliated with air strikes aided by the United States. The fighting has raised growing concerns about civilian casualties.

Dr Ahmad Khan Weyar, an official from the Helmand public health department, said a nurse was killed when an air strike hit a health clinic, and a guard was injured.

“American invaders bombed and destroyed another hospital and school in Helmand,” the Taliban said in a statement. It said Safyano Hospital and Muhammad Anwar Khan high school were bombed.

The clinic in Lashkar Gah was offering services mostly to nomads who were passing through the area, according to Mr Akhund, but in recent days the area has been under Taliban control and Taliban may have been treated there.

Heavy fighting has taken place in and around Lashkar Gah and both US and Afghan government air forces have carried out air strikes in the city. The Taliban control nine of the city’s 10 police districts.

In northern Afghanistan, the Taliban took control of parts of the capital of Kunduz province on Sunday, council member Ghulam Rabani Rabani said.

He said most parts of Kunduz city were under the control of the Taliban, with fighting around the governor’s office and police headquarters. The main prison building in Kunduz was under Taliban control, he added.

On Saturday, Taliban fighters entered the capital of Jawzjan province after sweeping through nine of 10 districts in the province.

Several other of the country’s 34 provincial capitals are threatened as Taliban fighters sweep through large swathes of Afghanistan at a surprising speed.

The US Central Command says the troop withdrawal is more than 95% complete and will be finished by August 31.