Police chief denies district’s fall to Taliban

QALAT (Pajhwok): Rejecting the Taliban claim of capturing the Nawbahar district of southern Zabul province, a top security official on Friday said a full-blown offensive was underway to uproot rebels from the area.

Earlier, the rebels said the district had been under their control since last night. The group’s spokesman Qari Mohammad Yousuf told Pajhwok Afghan News the fighters had been locked in intense gunbattles with security forces for nine days.

Heavy casualties had been inflicted on security forces, he said, adding that dozens of military vehicles had been seized by militants as a result of the battle for the district.

But Brig. Gen. Ghulam Sakhi Rogh Lewanai, the Zabul police chief, rejected the Taliban’s assertion, saying Nawbahar district’s administration had been moved to a new building and the government remained in control of the town.

Militants, he said, were carrying out occasional attacks on the old building, which were repulsed by his forces, he added. The militant claim was baseless and unfounded, he insisted.

rm/mud

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