19 militants killed in clashes in north

SHIBERGHAN (PAN insurgents, including three commanders, have been killed and several others wounded in clashes with security forces in northern Jawzjan and Kunduz province, officials said on Tuesday.

Seventeen militants, including two commanders, were killed during a joint operation by Afghan police and army backed by NATO-led troops in the Nowabad area of Qush Tapa district late on Monday night, the district chief, Aminullah, told Pajhwok Afghan News.

He said the forces seized four Kalashnikovs, two walkies-talkies and 12 motorbikes from the scene.

Police chief Col. Azizullah Ghairat said one policeman was killed during the operation, but no civilians was hurt.

A Taliban spokesman, Zabiullah Mujahid, confirmed the death of eight fighters, claiming others killed and wounded in the operation were civilians.

In Kunduz, a commander was among two Taliban militants killed by Afghan forces during a clash, an official said on Tuesday.

The clash took place in the Dasht-i-Archi district late on Monday, the district chief, Sheikh Sadruddin, said. He identified the slain rebel commander as Abdul Wahid who he said had recently returned from Pakistan.  Wahid was killed along with another fighter and six others fighters were detained, he said.

mrh/ma

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