TALUQAN, Afghanistan, Aug. 23 (Xinhua) -- More than 400 Afghan families have been forced to flee their houses due to clashes in Ishkamish district of northern Takhar province, authorities confirmed on Friday.

"Up to 400 families fled their houses due to recent clashes from Ishkamish district. Some of the displaced families have already received assistance from aid organizations as well as government agencies," Mohammad Jawad Hijri, provincial government spokesman, told Xinhua.

"Taliban militants have been trying to overrun Ishkamish district center and take control of local government buildings as clashes have been continuing since early August in Ishkamish, but they failed," displaced resident Safiullah told Xinhua.

Residents in the district were worrying that the Taliban's onslaught and increasing militancy would force more families to leave their houses for safer places, he added.

The Afghan National Defense and Security Forces remain in control of most of Afghanistan's population centers and all of 34 provincial capitals, but Taliban insurgents control large portions of rural areas, staging coordinated large-scale attacks against Afghan cities and districts since early April when the militant group launched a yearly rebel offensive.