Officials said that when the United Nations compound was attacked in Herat on Friday, an Afghan security guard was killed and government forces and the Taliban fought fiercely on the outskirts of the western city of Afghanistan.

Since the Taliban launched a full-scale offensive in early May, violent incidents across the country have surged, and US-led foreign forces have begun to attack Finally withdrawn It’s almost complete now.

The Taliban occupied several areas on the outskirts of the city, as well as two border crossings in the Herat province adjacent to Iran and Turkmenistan, and they continued to carry out sweeps across the country.

Residents said that on Friday, the Taliban clashed with government forces on the outskirts of the provincial capital Herat, forcing many families to flee.

A statement issued by the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) stated that during the fighting, the United Nations’ main compound in Herat was attacked by rocket-propelled grenades and artillery fire.

Deborah Lyons, the UN Secretary-General’s Special Representative for Afghanistan, said: “This attack on the UN is regrettable, and we condemn it in the strongest terms.”

“The perpetrators of this attack must be identified and brought to justice.”

The United Nations is in #Afghanistan Condemned today’s attack on its compound #Herat Killed an Afghan guard and injured other policemen. The full statement is here: https://t.co/OT5rVkiaZI pic.twitter.com/vEXHXjAlB6

-UNAMA News (@UNAMAnews) July 30, 2021

UNAMA stated that the attack was carried out by “anti-government elements.”

However, the organization said that the area where the compound was located was the scene of fierce exchanges of fire between the Taliban and government forces.

UNAMA stated that no UN personnel were injured in the incident.

The Taliban blamed the incident on a possible exchange of fire.

Zabihullah Mujahid, a spokesperson for the organization, said on Twitter: “Since the office is close to the fighting, the guards may be injured in the firefight.”

He added that Taliban fighters “have arrived at the scene” and the compound “has not received any threats”.

Al Jazeera’s diplomatic editor James Beth reported from Kabul that fighting in many places near Herat has become the focus of recent hours.

“According to local reports, I think the most worrying thing for the Afghan government is the fighting on the road between Herat City and Herat Airport. We think the airport is currently closed due to that battle,” he said.

Residents reported that there were clashes in the Injil and Guzara areas close to the airport.

“The people there are scared,” Abdul Rab Ansari, who fled from Guzala to the city, told AFP.

“The fighting is fierce, but so far, they have not occupied the Guzala area,” said Mohammad Allahyar, who also sought asylum in Herat.

The Afghan army and fighters from the veteran strongman and anti-Taliban commander Ismail Khan have been deployed around this city of approximately 600,000 inhabitants.

Khan fought the Soviet occupation forces in the 1980s and then the Taliban during the hard-line regime in the 1990s, and he promised to fight the organization again in response to their amazing progress in recent months.

‘Survival crisis’

Herat City is the second provincial capital that the Taliban has entered in the past 24 hours. Taliban fighters entered the capital of Helmand province a day ago, where clashes were taking place. The citizens evacuated the city in a hurry.

An unnamed government official told Reuters: “Since Thursday morning, the Taliban have launched attacks on the city of Rashkar Gah from multiple directions.” Rashkar Gah is the capital of Helmand Province. Ermand Province is a southern province bordering Pakistan.

As foreign troops headed by the United States approached their complete withdrawal, the Taliban had already made Acquire territory quickly In the past two months, it has not yet captured any provincial capitals.

A UN report this week said A surge in civilian casualties In Afghanistan in recent weeks, there have been as many deaths in May and June as in the previous four months. The report did not cover the casualties in July, when the fighting further intensified.

According to the US watchdog organization SIGAR, the Afghan government faces “Survival crisis” After reaching an agreement with the United States in February 2020, Taliban attacks doubled.

The agreement calls for the withdrawal of US troops in exchange for the Taliban’s security guarantees and an end to the United States’ longest overseas war.

The armed group complied with the agreement to a large extent because it avoided targeting U.S. forces, but it continued to launch attacks on Afghan forces.

The Doha Agreement also paved the way for peace talks between the Taliban and Afghan leaders.

However, the negotiations between the Taliban government and the Taliban government have reached a deadlock, and the United States has steadily withdrawn its troops. There are currently only a few hundred people. The deadline for a complete withdrawal is August 31.