13 insurgents killed in Sar-i-Pul, Herat incidents

SAR-I-PUL/HERAT CITY (Pajhwok): More than a dozen insurgents were killed and five others wounded during clashes and a blast in northern Sar-i-Pul and western Herat provinces, officials said on Saturday.

Armed militants attacked a security outpost and civilian homes 17 kilometres from Sar-i-Pul City, the provincial capital, on Friday night, said police officer Syed Naqibullah Sadat.

The ensuing clash lasted five hours and resulted in the killing of four Taliban, including a commander. Another four of the attackers were wounded, the official said.

One policeman was also injured during the firefight and the retreating insurgents set afire some houses of local residents.

A resident of Balghali village, the scene of the clash, Zainul Abidin, told Pajhwok Afghan News that three houses caught fire after being hit with rockets by the insurgents.

Sadat said the insurgents attacked the village in order to stone to death a couple accused of adultery, but police and residents prevented their move. The Taliban failed to execute their plan, they attacked civilian homes and torched them.

Elsewhere, five Taliban militants were killed during an operation in the Shindand district of western Herat province, the town’s acting administrative head said.

Faramarz Samandar told Pajhwok Afghan News another two militants were captured alive during the operation lasting 48 hours in the Zawal area.

The dead insurgents included a commander Mullah Karim, he said, adding security forces and civilians escaped unhurt during the operation.

As the operation continued, he said, four Taliban men were killed in a blast caused by their own explosives in the district’s Lorag area.

Herat police spokesman Abdul Rauf Ahmadi also confirmed five militants had been killed and two others detained during the operation in Shindand.

He said security forces also seized some weapons and ammunitions during the operation. The two detained rebels were being questioned, he said.

A Taliban spokesman, Qari Yusuf Ahmadi, said the fighters blew up a security forces vehicle with a remote-controlled blast in Shindand’s Pusht Shahr area, killing and wounding three policemen. But his claim was rejected by local officials.

ma/mud

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