Police commander among 16 killed

KABUL over the past 24 hours, officials said on Thursday.

The Ministry of Interior said security forces killed seven militants and detained 10 others during operations in the Baghlan, Kunduz, Kandahar, Uruzgan, Paktika and Kabul provinces.

Three Kalashnikovs, a machine gun, 18 bombs, 35 kilograms of explosives, 12 anti-vehicle mines and three motorcycles were seized by Afghan and foreign forces, said a ministry statement.

Another 27 insurgents were detained in five other operations conducted by police and the International Security Assistance Force in Kandahar, Khost and Balkh provinces.

But Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid claimed they had inflicted causalities on dozens of Afghan soldiers in armed attacks and roadside bombings in different parts of the country.

A local police commander, Pacha Gul, his two guards and an eight-year-old son were killed in a roadside bombing in the Sarak-i-Bala area of Chardara district in Kunduz, said Zalmay, the administrative chief of the town.

But Mujahid claimed they killed Gul and four policemen in the overnight assault.

In western Herat province, four guards of Arya Security Company were killed and two others wounded in overnight insurgent attacks in Korkh district, said police spokesman for western zone, Col. Abdul Rauf Ahmadi.

Taliban also suffered casualties during the clash when security personnel joined the guards against the militants, he added.

Separately, Hashmatullah, the son of tribal affairs director, was shot dead by unidentified gunmen in Maimana city of northern Faryab province.

The 24-year-old victim, who allegedly had an illicit relationship with a woman, was killed by his neighbour, said the provincial police chief, Brig. Gen. Abdul Khaliq Aqsai.

The woman was sent to a shelter home while her husband was detained in connection with the murder, he added.

“Someone called out my nephew at about 11pm. As he stepped out of his house, two men shot him from the neighbour’s house,” said the victim’s uncle, Eid Mohammad Bai.

myn/vp/mud