20 insurgents killed in Laghman, Ghazni

JALALABAD/GHAZNI CITY (PAN): Twenty insurgents, including three suicide bombers, were killed and several others wounded by security forces in eastern Laghman and southern Ghazni province, officials said on Wednesday.  

Fifteen fighters have been killed and 17 others wounded during an ongoing operation by the Afghan army and police in the Alingar district of Laghman, Sarhadi Zwak, the governor’s spokesman, told Pajhwok Afghan News.

He claimed four villages — Kachoor, Hakimabad, Noori and Salingar — had been cleared of militants as a result of the operation. The dead included rebel commanders Qari Almas and Omari, as well as four Pakistani citizens.

Security personnel had also captured 21 kilograms of opium from the house of a local Taliban Ghafoor, Zwak said.

A Taliban spokesman, meanwhile, acknowledged the loss of only three militants and injuries to five others in Laghman. Zabihullah Mujahid claimed the fighters had killed 10 security personnel and torched three vehicles in clashes.

Separately, a suicide bomber was among five guerrillas killed as a result of an airstrike by the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) in the Andar district of Ghazni, said the administrative head of the town, Mohammad Qasim Desiwal.

A car driver was hired to take suspected militants to the district centre or Ghazni City, Desiwal said, explaining the four fighters intended to attack security personnel. But ISAF targeted them before reaching their target, the district chief added.

On the other hand, a resident of the area, Lutfullah, said that were six people in the car, including the driver, were killed in the air raid.

myn

Visits: 13