Taliban judge among 13 killed

KABUL judge was among 13 others killed during separate clashes with security forces, officials said on Thursday.

The judge was killed along with some of his associates during a clash in Sayad district of northern Sar-i-Pul province, police chief Lt. Gen. Abdul Rauf Taj told Pajhwok Afghan News.

Another two insurgents were injured during the encounter that also left some local policemen dead, he said, but had no exact figures.

In southern Helmand, six Taliban fighters and three civilians were killed in clashes and roadside bombings over the past 24 hours, the governor’s spokesman said.

Omar Zwak said one civilian was killed and another injured when their motorcycle struck a roadside bomb in the Trikh Naro area of Marja district. Another two civilians were killed in a similar incident in the Kajaki town.

Separately, he said, three Taliban fighters were killed during an operation in Nahr-I-Saraj area of Gireshk district.

Meanwhile, Nangarhar province, two rebels were eliminated in a clash with police in the Batikot district, police spokesman Hazrat Hussain Mashraqiwal said.

A Taliban fighter and more than a dozen suspected insurgents were detained during a joint search operation by Afghan and international soldiers in Anbar and Chardihi areas. One militant was arrested in Lalpora district.

On the other hand, ISAF said a number of insurgents were killed in Burkah district of Baghlan province during a joint operation.

The operation was conducted against a senior Taliban insurgent also linked to the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan (IMU). He was killed in the operation, an ISAF statement in Kabul said.

mrh/ma