40 rebels killed as Hesarak clash ends

JALALABAD (Pajhwok): Security forces killed more than 40 insurgents and injured another 20 during a clash that broke out a day earlier in the Hesarak district of eastern Nangarhar province, an official said.

The governor’s spokesman, Ahmad Zia Abdulzai, told Pajhwok Afghan News the clash that began on Tuesday morning had come to an end, allowing residents to emerge from their homes and celebrate the Eidul Fitr festival.

A large number of heavily armed insurgents attacked security posts near the district centre, sparking an hours-long gun-battle with security forces. Security officials had earlier said more than 50 militants were killed and wounded during the clash.

Abdulzai confirmed six policemen had been killed and eight others wounded during the firefight.

A resident of the area, Ahmadullah, said the insurgents attacked the Clinic security post on Tuesday and captured it, but later they were driven away from the post. He said the clash continued until today’s morning and now the situation had improved.

Ahmadullah said: “We could not visit relatives due to the clash, but today there is calm and the Taliban have fled and people have come out of their homes to greet each other on the occasion of Eid.”

But a Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid claimed the government forces suffered heavy casualties. He said more than a dozen security officials were killed and some of their bodies remained at the battlefield.

He claimed the fighters captured eight security posts and three Afghan Local Police men. He acknowledged the death of only two fighters and injuries to another four during the clash.

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