Cross-border incursions displace Khost families

KHOST CITY (PAN): Cross-border militant attacks were forcing hundreds of families to flee their homes in the Zazai Maidan district of southeastern Khost province, officials said on Tuesday.

Heavily armed insurgents staged incursions into four villages of the town, forcing 324 families from their houses, district chief, Mohammad Akbar Zadran, told Pajhwok Afghan News.

However, he said a significant number of security forces had been dispatched to the affected areas to clam the tense situation. But he did not reveal the attackers’ nationalities.

A resident of Shaw area, Aseel Khan, said that hundreds of households had been forced to shift to the provincial capital, Khost City, after their homes came under attack from across the frontier.

He added so far one villager had been killed, with residents starting to retaliate by firing the attackers.

Deputy provincial council head, Jan Mirzai who visited the area as part of an official delegation, confirmed that four villages faced hostilities over the past four days.

He asked the government to take urgent steps to resolve the issue, otherwise the aggression could spill over to nearby villages.

The town came under attack from the rebels for the first time since the decade-long anti-terrorism war started.

ma/vp

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