JALALABAD (Pajhwok): At least 50 militants were killed and another 20 wounded during a NATO airstrike in the Hesarak district of eastern Nangarhar province, police said on Saturday.
Nangarhar police chief Fazal Ahmad Sherzad told reporters in Jalalabad, the provincial capital, that hundreds of insurgents attacked police check posts and the district headquarters on Friday night.
The attackers suffered heavy casualties after they were targeted by the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) jets, he said.
The police chief alleged Pakistani militants and intelligence officials were assisting and fighting alongside local Taliban in Hesarak.
On Friday, Sherzad alleged 250 Pakistani militia forces were fighting alongside local insurgents led by officers of the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI.
He said besides the Pakistanis, local rebels in Azra, Sherzad, Khogyani and Hesarak districts were talking part in the attacks focused on the district headquarters.
Four days ago, Sherzad said, the district headquarters was attacked and as a result, 60 insurgents suffered casualties during the ensuing clash that left six policemen dead and eight others wounded.
Meanwhile, Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid claimed more than 30 policemen had been killed and several check posts captured by the fighters in Hesarak, a claim local officials dismissed.
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