Taliban stalk the land after deadly firefight (Video)

JALALABAD (PAN): Gun toting Taliban fighters marched through an outcrop of east Jalal Abad province on Monday after a deadly firefight with Afghan security forces in the area on Friday. Taliban members noisily revved captured Afghan Police jeeps, chanting “long live the Islamic Emirate” and “long live Mullah Mohammad Omar” — the Taliban’s spiritual leader.

More than 20 Afghan policemen and up to 76 Taliban fighters were killed Friday when a police convoy in eastern Afghanistan was ambushed, officials said. It is the latest in a string of violent incidents tied to the Taliban 12 years after US-led NATO forces forced the group from power. The convoy was attacked in the Sherzad district of Nangarhar province as it returned from an operation to rescue a politician who was being threatened by the Taliban, resulting in a five-hour firefight.

Taliban sources offered a different account of the incident, claiming only five fighters were killed and 84 government soldiers. US forces were not involved.

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