Hundreds of Taliban rebels overran a district in southern Afghanistan, driving out government forces and remaining in control overnight, police said on Wednesday.
The insurgents stormed Chora district of restive Uruzgan province late on Tuesday and took over the police command and district headquarters after a battle lasting several hours, provincial police chief Haji Rozi Khan said.
"They had control over the headquarters overnight but they left in the morning," Khan said.
"The centre of the district is no man's land now, we are preparing to go back as soon as we get reinforcements," he said.
Afghanistan has recently seen a spike in violence as fighters of the extremist Taliban movement forced from government in late 2001 have stepped up their attacks, mainly in the south and southeast.