6 insurgents, local policeman killed in clashes

QALA-I-NAW/MAIMANA (PAN fighters and a local policeman were killed in two separate clashes in Badghis and Faryab provinces, officials said on Monday.

Five rebels were killed on Sunday night when they attacked a police checkpoint in the Bala Murghab district of Badghis, the provincial police chief told Pajhwok Afghan News.

A local policeman was also killed in the assault, said Col. Mohammad Jabbar, who added five motorcycles and two AK-47 rifles were seized from the fighters.

Qari Yousuf Ahmadi, a Taliban spokesman, confirmed the clash, saying two policemen and three fighters were killed.

Elsewhere in the country, one militant was killed and two others were injured during a clash with police in northern Faryab province.

The firefight took place in the Shakh area of Qaisar district, said Sgt. Sayed Yaqub Masuad, the provincial police spokesman.

According to another report, four Afghan National Army (ANA) soldiers were injured in twin roadside blasts in the Aab Garmak area of Ghormach district in Faryab, said Brig. Gen. Noor Mohammad Hamid, a Shaheen Military Corps commander.

But the Taliban claimed killing six soldiers, including an officer, in the bomb attack. The victims’ bodies were airlifted by a helicopter, he added.

mrh/mud