Taliban fighters killed nearly 60 members of Afghanistan’s beleaguered security forces in a spate of attacks across the country’s north, officials said on Monday, as diplomatic efforts to end the 17-year war intensify.

Heavy fighting overnight in four provinces followed a wave of violence across the war-torn country in recent weeks that has left hundreds of civilians, police and soldiers dead.

After seizing a military base in Sar-e-Pul, Taliban fighters were threatening the provincial capital in a situation that could result in “disaster” if reinforcements were not sent, the area’s police chief Abdul Qayom Baqizoy warned.

39 Taliban fighters dead

Mr. Baqizoy compared the threat to the Taliban’s extraordinary raid last month on the provincial capital of Ghazni — fighters held large parts of the city located just two hours from Kabul for days.

Air support has been called in, he said. About 39 Taliban fighters have been killed and 14 wounded.