Kabul, Sep 11 (IANS): In a major victory for the Afghanistan government, its security forces have taken over a district which had been captured by the Taliban two months ago.

Afghan forces retook Kiran Wa Manjan district in the northeastern province of Badakhshan on Wednesday, Fawad Aman, spokesman for the Afghan Ministry of Defence confirmed, reported Tolo news.

Taliban suffered heavy losses in the operation by the Afghan National Defence, other security forces and the public uprising forces, Aman said.

He said that the operation to retake the district was launched with the support of Abdul Malik, a public uprising forces commander.

This comes after the Afghan forces retook the Yumgan and Wardooj districts of the province, which fell to the Taliban four years ago.

The Kiran Wa Manjan win is considered significant as the district houses big deposits of lapis lazuli, a deep-blue metamorphic rock used as a semi-precious stone.