Monitoring Desk
KUNDUZ: Afghan security forces killed eight Taliban and wounded 10 more during operations in the Dasht Kala and Khwaja Bahauddin districts of Takhar province, they claimed Wednesday.
The Taliban entered several areas of the two districts two days ago but the Afghan commandos and local forces conducted operation against them, forcing them to retreat, Abdul Khalil Aseer, spokesman of Takhar police.
During the operation, he said, eight Taliban were killed and 10 more wounded, adding there was no fighting in these districts while the security forces were conducted clearing operations.
Aseer said the security forces had also suffered casualties but they had no accurate count.
Abdul Qayum Qanee, administrator of Dasht Kala district, told media that the security forces recaptured all the fallen areas.
Over the past two days, five Taliban were killed and three more wounded while three local police and a local upriser were also killed and two cops wounded, he said.
Saifullah, a resident of Dasht Kala district, said fire could be heard from the remote areas which showed that sporadic fighting still continues.
Taliban spokesman Zabihullah, meanwhile, said their fighters killed 10 Afghan troops and wounded several others during clashes since last Monday.
He said the Taliban seized three outposts in the Dasht Kala district and 13 in Khwaja Bahuddin district besides capturing several villages.
Operation launched to secure Maimana-Mazar highway: Four Taliban insurgents have been killed in an operation aimed at securing the highway between Maimana and Mazar-i-Sharif in northwestern Faryab province, an official said on Wednesday.
Col. Amir Mohammad Fazli, commander the 209th Shaheen Military Corps first brigade, said the operation was launched on Tuesday to reopen the highway and establish security check-posts.
The Afghan Air Force also supported the security forces, he said, adding four militants involved in attacking several areas were killed by their own mortar shell in Khwaja Sabzposh district.
But Abdullah Masoomi, the district’s administrative chief, said the four fighters were struck by AAF in the Sahraee Qala area of the district late on Tuesday. There has been no word so far from the Taliban.
