The Taliban movement, which has launched an attack on several fronts against Afghan forces for two months, announced its control of the important Spin Boldak border crossing with Pakistan in the southern province of Kandahar, recording new progress since the international forces accelerated their withdrawal from Afghanistan.

The Afghan Interior Ministry told AFP that Afghan forces had "repelled" the Taliban attack, but a Pakistani security source confirmed that the Taliban's white flag was raised in the border town.

It was not immediately possible to verify the situation on the ground, but pictures of Taliban fighters looking relaxed in what appeared to be a border town spread on social media.

If control of Spin Boldak is confirmed, it will be the latest advance by the hardline Islamist movement, after seizing a number of border crossings in recent weeks as the insurgents seek to cut off the customs revenue the Kabul government needs to be able to earn on their own.

The Taliban's announcement comes after days of fierce fighting across Kandahar province, where the government was forced to deploy special forces fighters to prevent the fall of the provincial capital as the Taliban advanced towards the border crossing.

In a statement, Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid sought to reassure the merchants and residents there by saying that "their security is guaranteed."

But Afghan officials insisted they still control the town.

Interior Ministry spokesman Tariq Arian said that "Taliban terrorists moved near the border area" in Spin Boldak district, but "the security forces repelled their attack."

But residents contacted refuted the government's allegations. "I went to my shop this morning and saw that Taliban fighters are everywhere. They are in the bazaar, in the police headquarters and customs areas. I can also hear the sound of fighting nearby," said Raz Muhammad, a shop owner who works near the area.

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The border crossing is one of the most strategically important for the Taliban, as it has direct access to the Pakistani province of Balochistan, where the Taliban leadership has been based for decades and an unknown number of reservists who are sent to Afghanistan to fight.

Hours after the crossing was announced, an AFP correspondent on the Pakistani side saw about 150 Taliban fighters riding motorcycles and waving the movement's banners while demanding that they be allowed to cross into Afghanistan.

Baluchistan is a destination for fighters to receive medical treatment, and where many of the families live.

A major highway links the border with Pakistan's commercial capital, Karachi, and its vast port on the Arabian Sea, a mainstay of the multi-billion dollar Afghan heroin trade that has been a major source of funding for the Taliban's war over the years.

A few weeks before the final US withdrawal from Afghanistan, the Islamist militant group has advanced across most of the country while the government no longer controls only a number of state capitals, which it must supply largely by air.

The sheer speed of the Taliban's attacks on several fronts has raised fears of overstretching Afghan security forces.

In Washington, earlier this week, Defense Department spokesman John Kirby said success in pushing back the Taliban would depend on the country's leaders, not what the United States would do.

"They know what they have to do," Kirby told reporters.

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