Updated

An Afghan official says that more than 50 Taliban militants were killed after the Taliban launched a major offensive in the northern province of Kunduz.

Abdul Wasay Basil, spokesman for the provincial governor, said Friday that more than 60 Taliban fighters were wounded, and that clashes were still ongoing.

Col. Ghulam Azrat Karimi, spokesman for the Afghan Army in Kunduz province, said Taliban fighters began attacking Afghan security forces early Friday morning.

Elsewhere in Afghanistan, the NDS national intelligence service issued a statement Friday claiming that a major Taliban official had been captured. The statement claimed that Qari Youssef, the Taliban's shadow governor for Khost province, was captured Tuesday while dressed in women's clothing to avoid arrest.