27 would-be bombers held in Khost last year

KHOST CITY (PAN): Nearly 94 suicide attacks were prevented and 27 would-be bombers captured in southeastern Khost province over the past one year, officials said on Saturday.

Deputy intelligence chief, Adam Khan Zurmati, told a press conference in Khost City another 24 individuals had been detained for facilitating insurgent attacks and nine more on charges of financing rebels.

Flanked by Governor Abdul Jabbar Naeemi and police chief, Brig. Gen. Abdul Qayyum, the intelligence official said 505 people had been nabbed on different charges during the year.

He added 300 pistols, 90 Kalashnikovs, eight rocket-propelled grenades, seven machine guns, as well as 45 light and heavy guns were sized during operations.

Brig. Gen. Muhammad Nasir Hidayat, the 203rd Thunder Military Corps commander, claimed 131 fighters had been killed during military operations in Khost, Paktia and Paktika provinces.

He said 25 Afghan army officers and soldiers lost their lives and another 88 sustained injuries.

The police chief said 56 insurgent had been eliminated and 185 others wounded during police operations in the province.

Brig. Gen. Abdul Qayyum said about 17 militants were killed in explosions caused by their own bombs.  He said 33 policemen sacrificed their lives and 96 sustained injuries during the period, when five abducted children were rescued.

As officials said security in Khost had improved, the governor asserted a number of reconstruction projects had been launched and completed during the past year.

nz/ma/mud

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