WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Taliban control half of the roughly 420 district centers in Afghanistan, the top U.S. general said on Wednesday, in the latest sign of the rapidly deteriorating security situation in Afghanistan.

       General Mark Milley, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said that more than 200 of the 419 district centers were under Taliban control.

       Late last month, Milley had said the Taliban controlled 81 of the 419 district centers in Afghanistan.

       (Reporting by Idrees Ali and Phil Stewart; Editing by Chris Reese)