Elders--or others--who act as mediators to negotiate between government forces and the Taliban-- causing security force members to abandon their posts--have been arrested, the Ministry of Interior Affairs (MoI) said on Sunday.  The ministry reiterated that cooperation with “terrorists” is unacceptable.

Many districts have recently fallen to the Taliban or have been evacuated after being under siege. Sources confirmed the fall of at least 20 distrits' centers to the Taliban in the last two months.

The Ministry of Public Health on Sunday reported 1,597 new positive cases of COVID-19 out of 4,587 samples tested in the last 24 hours. 

The ministry also reported 85 deaths and 471 recoveries from COVID-19 in the same period--the highest reported death toll from COVID-19 in a single day in Afghanistan.