KABUL, Feb. 17 (Xinhua) -- At least 27 people including two civilians were confirmed dead in the conflict-battered Afghanistan in a single day on Sunday as fighting between government forces and the Taliban outfit has gotten momentum, officials said.

In latest crackdown on militants, the government forces stormed Taliban positions in Dasht-e-Qala district of the northern Takhar province Sunday morning and so far seven armed insurgents have been killed and five others injured, an army spokesman in the province, Abdul Khalil Khalili said.

The official also asserted that the crackdown would continue to eliminate the insurgents in the area.

Meanwhile, the Taliban fighters in overnight attacks on police checkpoints in Harab-e-Mazari village of Chimtal district in the northern Balkh province had killed at least eight police and injured three others, a local official confirmed with anonymity.

However, an army spokesman, Abdul Hadi Jamal, has confirmed the fighting and, without providing details on the security forces casualties, claimed that 10 Taliban militants were killed in the firefight.

Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid, in contact with media outlets, has confirmed fighting in Chimtal district, claiming that the militants besides destroying a checkpoint and inflicting casualties on police, also captured two police vehicles.

Similarly, Taliban firing on a police van in Baghlan-e-Markazi district on Sunday left one civilian dead and five others injured, local sources said.

Taliban militants, according to locals, also gunned down a civilian in Baharak district of the northern Badakhshan province on the same day.

Fighting has escalated in Afghanistan's northern region as the Taliban insurgents have focused their guns from their traditional strongholds in the south and east to the once peaceful provinces in the north, where the armed outfit has been recruiting fighters from among the youth and jobless people. Enditem

Related

Go to Forum >>0 Comment(s)