HERAT CITY: (PAN): The son of Ghulam Yahya Akbari, leader of an independent insurgent group aligned with the Taliban, along with his two companions were killed in a firefight with Afghan and NATO-led ISAF soldiers in the western province of Herat, bordering Iran, late Saturday night, police said Sunday.

The clash happened in the Guzrah district, a stronghold of insurgents led by Akabari, a spokesman for the police headquarters, Col. Noor Khan Nekzad told Pajhwok Afghan News.

The joint force suffered no casualties in the clash, he added.  Akbari's son along with his two other fighters were killed in the clash.

In a telephonic chat with this scribe, Akbari, who is also known as the 'Tajik Taliban,' served as the mayor of the city of Herat before the Taliban took control in 1995, confirmed the killing of his son. He claimed his fighters destroyed a military vehicle of the joint force, killing all aboard the vehicle.

In the northern Kunduz province, one Afghan National Army (ANA) soldier was killed and his four colleagues wounded as a group of Taliban insurgents attacked their patrol vehicle late Saturday night, an official said Sunday.

The attack happened in Charadara district when the insurgents attacked the military Ranger pick-up conducting a patrol in the area, district chief Abdul Waheed Omarkhel told Pajhwok Afghan News. The vehicle was destroyed in the assault.

Having no information about casualties inflicted on the guerrillas, Waheed said the troops launched retaliation attack against the attackers.

Zabihullah Mujahid, the spokesman for the Taliban, has immediately claimed responsibility for the attack.

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