PUL-E-ALAM (SW) – Mounting armed assaults and string of targeted assassinations in Logar has forced a number of key officials and notable individuals to leave the province.
A well-known source in Logar, who did not want to be named, told Salam Watandar that the Taliban have planned to attack the town of Pul-e-Alam, the provincial capital, and seize the town. The source added that due to Taliban latest attacks, the security ring around the city has been broken and dozens of checkpoints in the province have fallen to the Taliban.
According to the source, government officials, members of the provincial council, journalists, businessmen and dozens of families have left the city.
- Condemnations pour in as truck bombing causes havoc in Logar
- Sit-in camp for peace erected at the site of Logar truck bombing
According to the Logar residents, the clashes between the Taliban and security forces have intensified since Eid al-Fitr. “The security situation in Logar is deteriorating every day, insecurity has increased so much that people in the city of Pul-e-Alam are being targeted and killed regularly,” Kamran, a resident of Logar, told Salam Watandar. “Shopping malls and shops are closed for fear of war, and people are not allowed out of their homes”, he added.
A large number of security checkpoints in the city of Pul-e-Alam have recently fallen to the Taliban. Logar residents are worried that the province will fall and public property will be lost.
Hasibaullah Stanekzai, head of the Logar provincial council, said in this regard that local officials had failed to provide security in the province and that a catastrophe would occur if the government did not pay attention to the province’s security. “The armed insurgents have intensified the war,” added the head of the Logar provincial council.
Fall of the security check posts has left negative impacts on the minds of the locals.
However, Shafiqullah Sahar, Logar’s newly-appointed police chief, said security forces have become stronger than before and can withstand any Taliban attack. “Rumors about the security of Logar province are the propaganda of the enemy,” said Shafiqullah Sahar. He added the Kabul – Gardiz highway remains open, but the Taliban occasionally sneak up on a number of checkpoints, killing civilians.
ENDS
