ANA officer dead in Laghman blast

MEHTARLAM (PAN): An Afghan National Army (ANA) officer was killed in a roadside bomb explosion and a woman injured in a rocket strike in eastern Laghman province, officials said on Sunday.

The blast took place on Sunday morning when the officer was on duty in the Surkhakan area on the Kabul-Jalalabad highway, said the crime branch chief of Qarghayee district.

Alem Shah told Pajhwok Afghan News the ANA officer, hailing from Paktia province, was killed and his vehicle destroyed in the explosion.

As usual, the Taliban claimed responsibility for the attack, saying three soldiers were killed and two others injured.

Elsewhere in the province, a woman was injured when a rocket shell hit her house in the Alikhel area on the outskirts of Mehtarlam, the capital of the province.

Lt. Col. Abdullah, commander of reserved police force, said the shell was fired from the Shah Malang Mountain. He added the injured woman was taken to the Laghman Civil Hospital.

mrh/myn/mud

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