TALUQAN, Afghanistan, April 25 (Xinhua) -- More than 500 families have left their houses for safer places due to intensified fighting in the northern Takhar and the neighboring Badakhshan provinces over the past couple of weeks, officials said Thursday.

About 300 families have been forced to leave their houses due to fighting between security forces and the Taliban militants in Dasht-e-Qala district of Takhar province over the past two weeks, district governor Abdul Manaf Faizy told Xinhua.

Majority of the displaced families have migrated to provincial capital Taluqan city and settled there, Faizy added.

However, he noted that the security forces had been fighting to evict militants and ensure lasting peace in the beleaguered Dasht-e-Qala district in order to pave the way for returning the displaced families to their houses.

Dozens of militants as well as security personnel lost their lives in the clash for control of Dasht-e-Qala district over the past few weeks.

Similarly, fighting for control of Kuran-o-Manjan district in the northern Badakhshan province have forced 220 families to leave their houses for safer places, head of Natural Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) in Badakhshan province Abdullah Hamayon Dehqan told Xinhua.

The official also confirmed that majority of the displaced families had been settled in Badakhshan provincial capital Faizabad.

Since launching the so-called annual spring offensive by the Taliban outfit on April 12, fighting has tensified in war-torn Afghanistan.