50 rebels killed, families flee as Ghazni clash rages

GHAZNI CITY (Pajhwok): About 200 families fled homes on Tuesday after a clash between heavily armed militants and security forces raged on in southern Ghazni province, an official said.

As many as many 50 militants were claimed killed after nearly 300 Afghan and Pakistani militants launched attacks on Afghan forces in Purdil and Janan villages of Gilan district, said Mahbobullah Sabawoon, the Gilan district chief.

He said the 50 militants killed included a commander and five security personnel suffered casualties.

Sabawoon earlier told Pajhwok that 13 militants had been killed and 14 others wounded in the ongoing clash that left three policemen and half a dozen civilians wounded.

“The militants have entered civilian houses and are firing at Afghan security forces from there,” he said, adding three children, two women hit a house.

Purdil and Janan villages are several kilometers away from the district centre, where one of the displaced persons, Mohammaddullah, told Pajhwok the Taliban broke into their house, forcing them to flee.

The governor’s spokesman, Shafiqullah Patang, also claimed a large number of militants had been killed during the clash.

mds/ma

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