The recent offensive launched by forces of Afghan Vice President Abdul Rashid Dostum has chased several dozen Taliban militants to an island on the Amu-Darya, the river that divides Afghanistan and Turkmenistan.
Dostum's forces earlier this week attacked villages in Afghanistan's northern Jowzjan Province that Taliban forces captured.
Jowzjan Deputy Governor Abdulrahman Mamudi said on October 23 that Dostum's forces had killed some 30 militants and also seized vehicles, weapons, and ammunition.
Mamudi confirmed some Taliban fighters had fled to the island. He said Turkmen authorities had been fully informed of the military operation and that Afghan forces were "coordinating with Turkmenistan's authorities."
Dostum's spokesman Sultan Faizi also confirmed the militants' presence on the island on the Amu-Darya River and said Afghan officials were in contact with their Turkmen counterparts.
Faizi said Dostum's forces were preparing to attack the militants on the island and Afghan forces had warned Ashgabat that the Taliban might attempt to escape into Turkmenistan.