Rebels attack another Nuristan town

JALALABAD (PAN): Militants attacked a district in eastern Nuristan province, sparking a fierce gun-battle with security forces, a senior official said on Wednesday.

Six policemen were wounded when a rocket hit a security post in Wama district late on Tuesday night, the Nuristan governor told Pajhwok Afghan News.

Coming from Chapa Dara district of neighbouring Kunar province, the assailants fired rockets at several security posts in Wama, Jamaluddin Badr said.

Bodies of two militants were later found in the area, he added. The attackers fled after putting up a brief resistance, but gunfire was still ongoing.

A Taliban spokesman, Zabihullah Mujahid, claimed the fighters overran two security posts. He said the attackers escaped unhurt and that several policemen were killed.

The Taliban, most of them coming from across the border in Pakistan, have lately intensified incursions into Barg-i-Matal, Kamdesh and Waigal districts of Nuristan.

Earlier in the day, Badr said a joint Afghan-coalition operation was ongoing in Barg-i-Matal, where many areas had been cleared of insurgents.

ma/mud