TALIBAN forces were said to be closing in on a number of major Afghan cities yesterday.

The settlements involved included Kandahar, where a rocket attack by the Islamists forced the airport to close.

Police also reported that a mortar shell had struck a taxi in Kandahar province, killing at least five civilians including two children, though the Taliban denied responsibility.

Clashes were also continuing between the militants and Afghan forces in two provincial capitals: Herat and Lashkar Gah.

The Afghan government mobilised reinforcements in a bid to drive back Taliban forces, which have made sweeping advances across the country including the capture of key border crossings into Pakistan and Iran.

“Last night three rockets were fired at the airport and two of them hit the runway,” Kandahar airport chief Massoud Pashtun said. “Due to this, all flights from the airport have been cancelled.”

Taliban spokesman Zabiullah Mujahid said the airport had been targeted because “the enemy was using it as a centre to conduct air strikes” against its forces.

The Taliban claims to be in control of about 85 per cent of Afghanistan. It launched its offensive in May, after the US announced that it would fully withdraw its troops from the country by September.

Kabul disputes the Taliban’s claim, but the US military admitted at the end of last month that the Taliban held more than 200 of Afghanistan’s 419 district centres.