Taliban's gains in the northern part of Afghanistan have been dramatic lately

Armed civilians and Afghan forces on Sunday repelled Taliban attack in Afghanistan's northern Takhar province. The governor of the province said that heavy casualties were inflicted on the Taliban.

Taliban launched a massive offensive on Sunday morning to capture Taloqan city, the provincial capital of Takhar. The Taliban attack faced resistance from armed civilians and Afghan security forces. Governor Abdullah Qarluq said adding that 55 Taliban fighters were killed and 90 others wounded.

Reuters said that a video showed armed citizens and Afghan forces on the battlefield on the outskirts of of the city.

Taliban's gains in the northern part of Afghanistan have been dramatic. During Taliban's rule in late 90s and early 2000s, north Afghanistan was bastion of Northern Alliance. Taliban had found it hard to gain a foothold there.

However, the situation is different this time.

The Islamist insurgents have been advancing for weeks, an offensive that has accelerated as the United States pulled out of its main base, effectively ending its two-decade intervention. Taliban gains have been especially dramatic in northern provinces where they had long been kept at bay.

The United States, which toppled the Taliban for sheltering Osama bin Laden in 2001 and has since propped up the Kabul government, agreed under then-President Donald Trump last year to pull out its troops subject to Taliban security guarantees.

Talks between Afghan government and Taliban negotiators in Qatar have failed to make substantive progress, though the warring sides have been holding meetings in recent days.