Taliban in a massive siege of a government compound and army base in western Badghis province, now in its second day, has killed at least 12 more troops taking the toll to at 32.
Many more have been wounded and the area is cut off.
A provincial council member, told Al- Jazeera that according to soldiers inside the base, roughly 2,000 Taliban fighters are involved in the attack.
Adding there are about 600 Afghan troops and members of the security forces inside and they are running out of ammunition, water and food.
Abdul Waris Sherzad, a district chief, said the locals are disappointed that NATO forces and the Afghan government have not helped, an assertion the defence ministry disputes.
Sherzad said in a statement on Thursday the Taliban had killed 36 members of the government forces and captured several security checkpoints in attacks that began on Wednesday night.
More than 30 Taliban fighters were also killed, according to Jamshed Shahabi, spokesman for Badghis’ provincial governor.
Taliban spokesman Qari Yousuf Ahmadi said the group attacked from four directions, capturing five checkpoints.
Afghanistan’s defence ministry, in a series of tweets, said its forces chose to “tactically retreat” from the checkpoints to prevent civilian casualties.
The ministry said it called in multiple air attacks on Taliban positions and had airlifted reinforcements and supplies to Badghis.
On Friday the defence ministry said Afghan forces had forced the Taliban to retreat from some checkpoints and that all key areas remained under its control.
