"After detailed review of the reports, the meeting decided that in order to consolidate operational gains, further reinforcements should be dispatched to the province on urgent basis," Ghani said.
Friday Assault
The fighting began at about 1 a.m. on Friday, when hundreds of armed fighters entered Ghazni and captured a number of key sites, according to Zabiullah Mujahid, a spokesman for the Taliban.
United States forces responded with attack helicopters and a drone strike, said US Forces Afghanistan spokesman Lt. Col. Martin O'Donnell.
After intense fighting in the city's streets, Afghan and NATO forces were able to push the Taliban to the outskirts of the city Friday afternoon, according to Mohammad Radmanish, a spokesman for the Afghanistan Ministry of Defense.
US Forces Afghanistan called the offensive a "failed attempt" to seize territory.
"Tactically, operationally and strategically, the Taliban achieved nothing with this failed attack except another eye-catching, but inconsequential headline," said LT. Col. Martin O'Donnell, a spokesman for US Forces Afghanistan.
"The fact remains that the Taliban are unable to seize terrain and unable to match the Afghan security forces or our enablement, retreating once directly and decisively engaged."
O'Donnell said Sunday Afghan forces were in control of all government centers in the city.
It's unclear exactly how many people were killed in the fighting.
Ghazni Hospital Director Dr. Baz Mohammad Hemat said the death toll is between 120 and 160 people and includes both military and civilian casualties. Radmanish said more than 150 Taliban fighters were also killed in the battle. Mujahid said 140 Afghan soldiers were killed, though US authorities disputed that figure.
Ambitious Attack
The assault on a major population center was one of the group's most ambitious military moves in years, and was further evidence that a violent stalemate between the government and the Taliban persists. In May, the insurgent group briefly overran the western city of Farah, but Ghazni is far more important and the scale of the attack much greater.
If the city fell to the Taliban, it would compromise the security of the capital and the eight provinces it borders.
However, while the Taliban is capable of controlling rural areas, the combination of Afghan troops with US air support has prevented its fighters from taking and holding population centers.
The assault is the latest insurgent attack in the country since the Afghan government unilaterally called off a ceasefire that it had in place for Eid al-Fitr, the holiday marking the end of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan. The Taliban, along with other militant groups such as ISIS, routinely attack military and civilian targets in the country.
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