KABUL: More than 36 people including three civilians had been killed due to continued fighting in Afghanistan in a single day, officials said.
In the latest violent incident, three civilians were killed as a roadside bomb struck a car in Ziarat village of Ab Kamari district in western Badghis province Saturday afternoon, provincial police chief M. Mahfoz Walizada confirmed. The official blamed Taliban insurgents for the deadly blast, saying the armed group often organizes roadside bombings to terrorize people.
A similar bomb explosion claimed the life of a police chief of Nawbahar district in southern Zabul province Saturday morning, provincial government spokesman Gul Islam Sayal said. Afghan fighting jets, according to army spokesman in the northern region Mohammad Hanif Rezai, bombarded a Taliban gathering in Wali Abad village of restive Dawlat Abad district, Balkh province at 08:30 a.m. local time Saturday, killing 30 insurgents and wounding several others.
Clashes between security forces and the Taliban fighters on a road linking northern Takhar province to neighboring Kunduz province killed three militants and injured five others on Saturday, provincial government spokesman Mohammad Jawad Hajari confirmed. The Afghan government has accused the Taliban of intensifying attacks elsewhere in the country including cities and highways.
However, Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid rejected the claim, saying the armed group has reduced its offensives to 40 percent since inking the so-called peace deal with US in February in Doha to facilitate the intra-Afghan dialogue.–Agencies
