GHAZNI, Afghanistan — The Afghan government declared Saturday that there was no longer a cause for concern about the strategic southeastern city of Ghazni falling to the Taliban.

However, a reporter for The New York Times who entered the city on Saturday morning found insurgents confidently in control at every intersection. At Sanayi High School, where the day before there had been a large Afghan police check post, now there were a half-dozen Taliban fighters armed with rocket-propelled grenade launchers and AK-47s.

“As a civilian your life is important to us, so you should go back to your village or home now,” their leader, wearing a black turban, told the reporter. “We don’t want to kill you, but we have orders not to allow civilians out in the city.”

Both the government and the insurgents claimed to be in control. With cellphone towers destroyed, communications were sporadic and information from Ghazni was scarce.