KANDAHAR/KABUL: Panicked residents fled the capital of the opium-rich southern Afghan province of Helmand Wednesday after the Taliban stormed an outlying neighborhood, triggering clashes as the insurgents step up offensives around the country.

The Taliban late Tuesday seized some police checkpoints in Babaji, a suburb of Lashkar Gah city, but the Interior Ministry said commando units mounted a swift counter-attack, flushing out the militants from the area. Troops have pushed the Taliban back from the city.

“The situation is under control. The enemy have been pushed back, 25 of their fighters have been killed,” ministry spokesman Sediq Sediqqi told AFP.

Babaji, which is the capital of Helmand province, is back under government control, said Sediqqi. He said reinforcements had arrived and a clearing operation was underway.

Taliban gunmen had overrun several security checkpoints on the edges of Lashkar Gah on Tuesday, Sediqqi said, adding that fighting was still underway in at least three districts outside the city. Afghan forces were also battling the Taliban in Nad Ali and Greshk districts close to Lashkar Gah, where insurgents captured a number of security posts, provincial governor Mirza Khan Rahimi said. Afghan troops were gearing up for a major offensive to retake the district of Ghormach in northern Faryab province.