DM Monitoring
KABUL: Fighting in Afghanistan has gotten momentum since the start of the withdrawal of the U.S.-led forces from the conflict-battered country on May 1 as the Taliban militants have stepped up activities, officials said Wednesday.
According to security officials, the Taliban fighters have intensified activities in Helmand, Zabul, Baghlan, Herat, Farah, Faryab, Takhar and Badakhshan provinces, and scores of Taliban fighters and security personnel have been killed.
Confirming impetus in fighting, a spokesman for the Defense Ministry Fawad Aman told local media on Wednesday that violent incidents have increased over the past three days, saying the Taliban militants have suffered huge casualties.
A total of 20 security personnel and 180 Taliban militants have been killed and 87 more insurgents injured, according to the official. Fighting has increased since May 1, the day the U.S. administration formally started pulling out its forces from Afghanistan. A Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid has welcomed the foreign forces’ withdrawal but blamed the U.S. for violation of the Doha agreement under which the U.S. was bound to complete the withdrawal on May 1.
Taliban militants attacked security checkpoints and killed nine soldiers in Baghlan-e-Markazi district of northern Baghlan province on Monday night, stormed security checkpoints in the neighboring Burka district on Tuesday, and overran district headquarters early Wednesday.
Police described the district collapse as “tactical retreat” while the Taliban outfit claimed victory and said the district headquarters, police head office and all administrative offices in Burka have been captured.
Taliban militants have been attempting to overrun the key city of Lashkar Gah in the south and neighboring Ghazni and Farah provinces, but failed after suffering huge casualties and leaving 39 bodies behind outside Lashkar Gah, said an army statement on Wednesday.
