Taliban free 14 policemen; 2 killed in blasts

KABUL): Five insurgents and two police commanders were killed, while 21 insurgents were detained in various security operations, said officials on Sunday.

The operations were conducted jointly by Afghan and foreign troops in Nangarhar, Kunduz, Kapisa, Kandahar, Helmand, Khost, Ghazni, Logar, Zabul and Farah provinces.

A Ministry of Interior (MoI) statement said weapons, including AK-47 assault rifles, a machine gun, over 470 heavy and light shells, 14 anti-vehicle mines, 16 hand grenades and two magazines were seized in the operations.

In southeastern Paktia, security officials arrested a suspected militant with 16 mortar shells, 14 kilograms of drugs, three vehicles and two motorbikes, added the ministry.

Elsewhere, a border police officer, along with a policeman, was killed in a roadside bombing in the Khamab district of northern Jawzjan province, said the deputy governor.

Faqir Mohammad Jawzjani told Pajhwok Afghan News the explosion occurred when the police officer was on his way to the district centre after attending a wedding party.

He added two other policemen injured in the incident were taken to the district health clinic and are said to be in stable condition.

Meanwhile, a local police commander was killed and his bodyguard injured in a similar bomb attack in the Chahardara district of northern Kunduz province.

Col. Ghulam Mahiudeen, the district police chief, said Commander Abdul Basir was targeted by remote-controlled bomb late on Saturday, while taking a walk in the area.

Security personnel seized more than two tonnes of ammonium nitrate, a chemical fertilizer used in bomb making, in central Logar province, the police chief said.

Brig. Gen. Ghulam Sakhi Rogh Lewani said the chemicals in 45 sacks were recovered early on Sunday morning in the Mohammad Aga district before they were transported to Kabul.

The ministry also said the Taliban released 14 local policemen kidnapped last week in the Warduj district of Badakhshan province.

The rebels stormed a checkpoint in the district, where they killed four policemen and kidnapped 16 others, said Gen. Mohammad Eshaq Tamkin, the police coordination centre commander.

According to Tamkin, during the attack, most of the 43 local policemen manning the checkpoint managed to escape.

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