13 insurgents, 4 policemen killed

KABUL insurgents and four policemen were killed and several others militants arrested during a string of security operations in various provinces over the past 24 hours, officials and the interior ministry said on Thursday.

On Thursday, three militants were killed, as many injured and eight others, including a commander, arrested in two separate operations in Baghlan and Farah provinces, officials said.

The Taliban commander named Mohammad Musa was arrested along with his brother by foreign troops during a raid on a house in the Baghlan-i-Mrakazi district of Baghlan, police chief Col. Muhammad Kamin told Pajhwok Afghan News.

The commander who had recently returned from Pakistan was involved in planting roadside bombs in the province, he said.

The ISAF media office in Kabul confirmed a militant leader had been arrested in Baghlan. In a statement, the force said several others armed insurgents were also detained during the operation

The three rebels were killed during an operation in the Gulistan district of Farah province, an intelligence official said.

Another four suspects were wounded and five others detained during the ongoing offensive that began two days ago, the official said on condition of anonymity. Some weapons and ammunitions were also recovered during the operation.

Meanwhile, the Taliban claimed several Afghan army troops were killed and wounded in a roadside bomb attack in Gulistan.

Without saying anything about casualties suffered by the fighters, Qari Yusuf Ahmadi, a Taliban spokesman, told Pajhwok over the phone an ANA ranger pick-up vehicle struck a roadside bomb in the district, killing four soldiers and wounding two others onboard.

Meanwhile, the Interior ministry said 11 insurgents were killed and a dozen more arrested during a series of security operations in Nangrahar, Helmand, Uruzgan, Logar, Paktika and Herat provinces over the past 24 hours.

Six Kalashnikovs, one rocked launcher, two weapons, 300 bullets, 7 roadside bombs, five hand grenades, two walkie-talkies, six kilograms of opium and one motorcycle were seized, the ministry said in a statement.

The statement also said four anti-vehicle mines, three hand grenades and five kilograms of explosives were confiscated on Wednesday during operations in Nangarhar, Takhar, Kandahar, Ghazni and Khost provinces.

It said four policemen were killed when their vehicle hit a roadside bomb in Gulistan district of western Herat province. Another three policemen were wounded in similar attacks in the Maiwand district of Kandahar and Chora district of Uruzgan, the ministry said.

In a separate statement, the Ministry of Defence said 12 roadside mines, two RPG shells, two Kalashnikovs, a satellite phone, six walkie-talkie batteries and 19 motorcycles were seized during a joint operation of Maiwand Military Corps and ISAF soldiers in the Kajaki district of southern Helmand province.

The joint forces also seized 46 kilograms of hashish, three kilograms of opium, five sacks of heroine processing material, 10 barrels of acid and destroyed two opium producing factories.

mds/ma

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