20 dead, 15 injured in Uruzgan incidents

TIRINKOT (PAN): Twenty people were killed and 15 others, including three children, injured during separate incidents of violence in central Uruzgan province, officials said on Friday.

Armed insurgents launched attacks on police posts in Oshi, Yakhdan and Sakhar areas of the Charchino district, sparking fierce gun-battles with police on Thursday, the district police chief 2nd Lt. Wali Dad told Pajhwok Afghan News.

The clashes continued until late in the night, leaving 16 attackers and three policemen dead, he said, adding another 12 insurgents were injured.

But Taliban spokesman Qari Yousaf Ahmadi denied the fighters had suffered any casualties, saying police commander named Masoom was killed along with three subordinates. He said there was an airstrike that killed civilians.

The district administrative head, Ismail Jan, confirmed the airstrike, but rejected civilian deaths, insisting all those killed were insurgents.

The governor’s spokesman, Abdullah Himmat, told Pajhwok the insurgents killed during yesterday’s clashes included the Taliban-designated district chief for Charchino and another two commanders — Maulvi Shah Wali.

The official said one civilian was killed and three children injured on Friday when a landmine exploded in front of a house in Tirinkot, the provincial capital.

The blast in Tori area occurred around 10:30 am, killing a 35-year-old man. The children injured in the explosion were aged between 8 and 12 years, according to Himmat.

A doctor on duty at the civil hospital, Izatullah, confirmed receiving one dead body and three injured children. He said the children were out of danger.

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