KABUL (SW) – Findings by Salam Watandar indicate at least 37 security forces got killed in the Taliban attacks in the past 24 hours in six provinces alone.
The casualties occurred in Maidan Wardak, Kandahar, Kunduz, Balkh, Bamyan, Takhar and Kapisa provinces.
A spokesman for the governor of Maidan Wardak province, Mohibullah Sharifzai, told Salam Watandar that the Taliban launched a series of attacks on Afghan forces in the Deh-e-Afghan area late on Sunday, killing four soldiers and wounding seven others. He said nine Taliban militants had been killed and dozens more wounded in retaliatory attacks by Afghan forces.
A spokesman for Kandahar's governor, Bahir Ahmad Ahmadi, told Salam Watandar that the Taliban attacked security posts in the Maruf district of the province on Sunday, killing seven policemen and wounding five others. But, a government source in Kandahar, speaking on condition of anonymity, put the number of police killed in the Maruf district at six and the number of injured at ten.
Taliban insurgents killed five soldiers in an attack on security posts in Mohib Khel area of Tagab district in Kapisa province. Kapisa police spokesman, Shaikh Shorash confirmed the news, adding that militants had also been killed in the fighting last night, but did not provide the exact number. In Kapisa, some civilian sources put the death toll at nine in the Tagab district of the province.
Meanwhile, unconfirmed reports from Balkh province indicate that Taliban insurgents had also attacked the National Directorate of Security (NDS) forces in the Plas Posh area of Balkh district, killing five security forces. A spokesman for the Balkh governor, Munira Ahmad Farhad, said the Taliban had killed three soldiers in an attack last night.
Some local sources in Balkh district say that the Taliban seized a national security checkpoint and confiscated all ammunition in an attack, but a spokesman for the Balkh governor denied this.
In neighboring Kunduz, two soldiers and seven Taliban fighters were killed in clashes between the government forces and the Taliban. A government source told Salam Watandar on condition of anonymity that the Taliban insurgents had suddenly attacked a military base in the third security district of Kunduz city, sparking a seven-hour battle between the two sides.
Two soldiers and seven Taliban insurgents were killed in the clash, the source said.
Abdul Hadi Nazari, a spokesman for the army’s Pamir Corps, said the Taliban had retreated as fresh Afghan forces arrived in the area, but that five fighters had been killed and four others wounded.
In other news, eight soldiers were killed and four others wounded in a clash between government forces and the Taliban in Takhar province. A government source in Takhar said the fighting broke out in the Nawababad area of Dasht-e-Kala district when the Taliban attacked Afghan forces.
Also in Bamyan province, two soldiers were killed in a Taliban attack.
Meanwhile, Interior Ministry spokesman Tariq Arian claimed that the Taliban had killed 98 civilians and wounded 230 others in the past two weeks.
The Taliban have not yet commented on the government's claim.
The Taliban attacks on security forces as well as civilian casualties have increased since the start of peace talks between the government and the Taliban in Qatar.
ENDS
