TEHRAN Taleban movement on Wednesday confirmed the fall of central Bamiyan city to the northern united front forces.

A Taleban official in its diplomatic mission in Islamabad told IRNA that the Taleban fighters withdrew from Bamiyan city to avoid' civilian casualties.

Taleban had captured Bamiyan city, the capital of central Bamiyan Province, in 1998 from the Hizb-e-Wahdat forces.

The united front forces captured the strategic Yakawlang district in Bamiyan Province last month and were trying to oust Taleban forces from Bamiyan city.

The Taleban official, requesting not to be identified, said the northern alliance opposition forces took advantage of severe cold in the area and launched their attack on Taleban forces.

He did not say anything about casualties. However, a united front source has been quoted as saying that more than one hundred Taleban fighters have been killed during the two-day fighting.

Meanwhile, the Taleban Foreign Ministry on Wednesday delivered a letter to the UN Special Mission in Afghanistan (UNSMA), asking it to shut down its office in Kabul.

The letter, according to Radio Pakistan, said there was no need for the UN office in Kabul after closure of Taleban office in New York.

The U.S. State Department ordered Taleban, last week, to close their office in New York in line with the fresh Security Council sanctions which require for closure of all Taleban offices abroad.

Taleban responded it with threats to close the Kabul office of the UN special mission in Kabul, if their office at the UN was closed, an IRNA report from Islamabad said.

Later, the UN secretary general's special representative for Afghanistan, Fransesc Vendrell said closure of the UN office in Kabul would create trouble for his peace overtures in Afghanistan.

He also said that Taleban's New York office was serving as a channel of contact between the UN and Taleban, who do not have permanent presence at the world body.