4 civilians killed in Taliban attacks: MoI

Monitoring Desk

KABUL: At least four civilians and one security force member was killed in separate Taliban attacks in five provinces on the fifth day of the reduction in violence plan (RIV), the Afghan Ministry of Interior (MoI) said on Wednesday, amid hopes that the RIV will lead to a nationwide ceasefire in the war-ravaged country.

According to the Afghan government, 19 security force members and four civilians have been killed in the Taliban attacks since the implementation of the reduction in violence (RIV) plan on February 21. 35 security force members were wounded in these attacks by the Taliban.

“The Taliban today launched some attacks in Logar, Ghazni, Zabul, Kandahar and Laghman provinces. The attacks resulted in the killing of at least four civilians and one security force member. Four others were wounded in the attacks,” said NasratRahimi, a spokesman for the Ministry of Interior.

Meanwhile, in Kabul at least nine civilians, including a woman, were wounded when an IED placed in a motorbike went off in PD6, Interior Ministry spokesman NasratRahimi said.

The Taliban denied involvement, saying”intelligence networks are trying to create distrust.”

Meanwhile, in the southern province of MaidanWardak, a bridge that connected Nirkh district to MaidanShahr was blown up.

“Individuals behind the explosion of this bridge have been identified, but we do not want to conduct operations against them because of the reduction in violence,” said MuzaffaruddinYameen, the governor of MaidanWardak, without giving details about what group was suspected.

It appears that both the Taliban and the Afghan government are satisfied with the RIV up to this point.

The US has already said that it will sign a peace deal with the Taliban on February 29 if the RIV process is concluded successfully.

“As was expected, the two sides have been committed to their promise about the reduction in violence. It is hoped that the peace deal between the US and the Taliban is signed,” said Hassan Haqyar, a political activist in Kabul.

On Tuesday, the Afghan Ministry of Interior said that at least four security incidents by the Taliban were recorded in Zabul, Ghazni, Farah and Helmand provinces, which was on the fourth day since the implementation of the reduction in violence.

According to the group, no significant incident so far has been reported against the Taliban by the US and Afghan forces.(TOLOnews)