KABUL: Clashes in Afghanistan have intensified amid the ongoing dialogue between the government and the Taliban delegations in Doha, officials said Friday.
In the latest wave of violent incidents, Taliban militants stormed security checkpoints in Ali Abad district of northern Afghanistan’s Kunduz province on Friday, triggering heavy fighting and so far three insurgents and one policeman have been killed, district governor Amanudin Qurishi said.
Four more policemen have been injured in the ongoing fighting, the official added.
Three more pro-government militiamen have been confirmed dead in the neighboring Khanabad district, Kunduz province, in a Taliban ambush at noon on Friday, district governor Hayatullah Amiri has confirmed.
Thirteen more militants were killed and their offensive to overrun Dara-e-Suf Payan district in Samangan province has been repulsed on Friday, police said.
More than 30 fighters including militants and security personnel have been killed elsewhere in the conflict-battered country over the past 24 hours, according to security officials. The Taliban militants, according to Afghan officials, have increased activities to gain more grounds or capture major cities to secure upper hands in the peace talks.
The tough talks, according to local media, have been continuing since Sept. 12, but the two sides have yet to agree on the agenda of the dialogue, including the future system of the government.
Some Afghans say the two sides should observe ceasefire to make the talks succeed.
“Pushing for war amid peace talks would complicate the peace process,” a Kabul resident Mohammad Azam told Xinhua.
Azam, who lost his brother in the war four years ago, urged the warring sides to cease the fighting and work for peace in the country.
Abdullah Abdullah, chairman of Afghanistan’s High Council for National Reconciliation, who called for humanitarian ceasefire in Doha on Saturday, in his speech here on Friday at a gathering said that the people of Afghanistan wanted lasting peace and honorable peace, and hoped the ongoing Doha talks could lead to returning durable peace in the country.
Meanwhile, Taliban attack to overrun the restive Dara-e-Suf Payan district in Afghanistan’s northern Samangan province has been repulsed and the militants retreated after leaving 13 bodies behind, the provincial police headquarters said in a statement released here Friday.
The armed insurgents, according to the statement, launched multi-pronged offensive on security checkpoints in Dara-e-Suf Payan district early Friday morning, but police backed by army and fighting planes responded to the attack, killing 13 insurgents on the spot and wounding five others.
A number of arms and ammunition have been seized from the insurgents, the statement asserted. Only one security member has been injured in the fighting, the statement said.
It also added that a cleanup operation is continuing to ensure lasting peace in the area.
The armed outfit has yet to make comment.
Taliban militants, according to local officials, have intensified activities amid ongoing peace talks in Doha to secure more grounds and talk from a strong position on negotiating table.–Agencies
