Taliban overruns area in N. Afghanistan's Baghlan province

PUL-E-KHUMRI, Afghanistan, July 2 (Xinhua) -- Taliban militants have captured the strategically important Kayan valley in Dushi district of Afghanistan's northern Baghlan province, district governor Sahib Dad Ghafoori said Tuesday.

"Taliban have overrun Kayan valley," Ghafoori told Xinhua without providing more details.

Locals have said that the Taliban fighters captured the area Monday night after fierce fighting that left a dozen dead and injured from both sides.

Observers in Baghlan province believe if the Taliban militants were able to keep control over Kayan valley, they could attack the main highway linking the national capital Kabul to northern Mazar-e-Sharif and central Bamian cities.

Taliban militants have yet to make comment.