Commanders among 32 rebels killed in Farah clash

FARAH CITY (PAN): Thirty-two militants, including three commanders, were killed during a fierce gun-battle with security forces in the Gulistan district of western Farah province late on Sunday, an official said.

The gun-battle broke out after a large group of insurgents ambushed the security forces in the Boji Bast area, the governor’s spokesman Abdul Rahman Jawandi told Pajhwok Afghan News.

A massive operation has been launched against militants three days ago in the district, where another two armed insurgents were killed when a bomb they were planting on a road went off.

The official said bodies of the 32 slain militants were still lying on the ground at the clash site.

A large number of weapons and explosives were seized during the ongoing offensive, the gubernatorial spokesman said.

An intelligence official said three commanders were among 25 militants killed in a NATO airstrike during the clash. Another 13 rebels were injured, he added.

The National Directorate of Security official said the operation was aimed at paving the ground for a new phase of the security transition from foreign troops to Afghan forces.

A Taliban spokesman said the clash between the fighters and security forces was still ongoing in the district. A number of foreign and local security men were killed and wounded, he added.

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