KABUL: Paktia's deputy provincial governor Abdul Wali Sahi on Saturday confirmed that Janikhel district collapsed to the Taliban on Friday night, Afghan media reported.

Sahi criticized the government for not conducting airstrikes in Janikhel districts ahead of Friday night's clash. Earlier district governor Abdul Rahman Solamal confirmed the fall of the district and said 30 security force members had been killed in the clash.

Solamal said that about 1,200 Taliban insurgents attacked the district.

According to the district governor the district collapsed because central government and provincial officials did not send in reinforcement troops to the district on time.

After the Taliban captured the district they torched the district governor's building and the houses of government employees and local policemen. Most of the district's residents have fled the area.