Taliban claims it controls 85% of Afghanistan’s territory

Mawlawi Shahabuddin Dilawar, member of a political delegation from the Afghan Taliban’s movement gestures during a news conference in Moscow, Russia (Alexander Zemlianichenko/AP)

The Taliban claimed it now controls 85% of Afghanistan’s territory amid a surge in wins on the ground and as US troops complete their pullout from the war-battered country.

The announcement came at a press conference at the end of a visit by a senior Taliban delegation to Moscow this week, a trip meant to offer assurances that the insurgents’ quick gains in Afghanistan do not threaten Russia or its allies in Central Asia.