Taliban militants have occupied two districts in the insurgent southern provinces of Helmand and Zabul, local officials told Xinhua Thursday.

The districts are Garmser in Helmand and Arghandab in Zabul, which have been under mounting Taliban pressure over the past months.

"Taliban captured the center of Garmser and we have relocated the district headquarters," said Mohammad Nabi Mullahkhil, the provincial police chief.

Meanwhile, Noor Mohammad Paktin, Zabul's police chief, said both district chief and police chief of Arghandab have resigned due to unknown reasons and that the Taliban has entered the district center.

The Taliban's purported spokesman Qari Yusuf Ahmadi claimed that militants have captured both the districts and hoisted their flags there.

No high-ranking officials were immediately available in Afghan capital Kabul to make comments on the incidents.

Taliban insurgents occupied the center of Garmser district on July 17, but Afghan and the U.S.-led coalition forces took it back two days later.

More than 2,100 people, mostly Taliban militants, have been killed in rising violence in Afghanistan this year.

Source: Xinhua