Maj. Gen. Hibatullah Alizai, the commander of the Special Operations Corps, said that suppressing the Taliban is the top priority of the forces and that "strong belts" have been created for the protection of big cities, highways and border towns.

Alizai said there was a vast presence of Pakistani Taliban, especially Punjabis, in recent attacks by the Taliban, and that “hundreds” of Taliban fighters have been killed in Afghan forces operations.

Dozens of women took up arms – some of them heavy weapons – and marched in the capital city of Feroz Koh to pledge their support the Republic and the Afghan National Defense and Security Forces.

The women said that the historical record of the five years of the Taliban regime proved that the group violates women’s rights.