Kabul, Aug 13 (IANS): Taliban militants set fire to the house of a former female police officer, Najiba Dalawi, in Sheberghan on Friday.

The former officer had gone to visit a shrine when Taliban fighters set fire to her rented house.

Meanwhile, piling on more human rights breaches, the Taliban killed the district police chief of Asmar in Kunar province.

In Kandahar province, the Taliban have captured the central prison and hundreds of inmates have been released. The Taliban confirmed that they have released 1,900 inmates after taking over the prison.

As the Taliban have seized around 17 provinces, quoting locals, Wall Street Journal reported that women in many Taliban-held areas are not allowed to leave the houses without male relatives or without wearing burqas.

In this regard, Michelle Bachelet, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, said, "Hampering a woman's ability to leave home without a male escort also inevitably leads to a cascade of other violations of the woman."

Several reports of Taliban forcing young girls to marry their fighters in the provinces of Herat, Kandahar, Nimroz and Helmand keep emerging.

The Taliban have killed several civilians and members of public uprising forces after capturing Herat, besides detaining local warlord Ismail Khan.