SHEBERGHAN (SW): Under the command of the Vice President Gen. Abdul Rasheed Dostum, the Afghan National Security Forces (ANSF) have eliminated 36 armed rebels in the northern Jawzjan province.
A communiqué issued by the VP office said on Thursday that the restive Qush Tapa district has been completely cleared from the militants. It added that among the dead included a notorious rebel commander Qari Ghani and some 3 Uzbek militants. Some 15 rebels are said to be seriously wounded in the offensives.
Separately, family members of the 13 ANSF men held captive by the rebels in Faryab province have expressed fear for the life of their loved ones. Among the captive are 12 Afghan National Army (ANA) men and one Afghan National Police (ANP) man. The men were taken away by the Taliban when their helicopter crashed in Faryab about three months ago that also claimed the lives of eight ANA men.
Family members of the captive men held a rally in the capital Kabul on Wednesday.
According to them, the Taliban are demanding to swap the captive men with their Qari Salahuddin, the Taliban’s shadow governor for Faryab now under government custody. It is said that the Taliban have given a five-day ultimatum for the swap.
Dawlat Waziri, spokesman for the Ministry of Defense however, has said that the security forces would not spare efforts to liberate their captive comrades.
ENDS
