Taliban plant bombs on Gilan highways

GHAZNI CITY (Pajhwok): Following a weeklong offensive, the Taliban have planted bombs on most roads and highways connecting Gilan district with the rest of southern Ghazni province, officials and residents said on Sunday.

The troubled town’s administrative head, Mahboobullah Sabawoon, told Pajhwok Afghan News the retreating insurgents had emplaced landmines in Purdil, Mullah Jan, Hassan Kala and Spinghar villages after clashes with Afghan security forces.

Security officials on Saturday claimed 86 militants, including 32 Pakistanis, had been killed and dozens others injured during the offensive.

“The number of planted roadside bombs is not known, but Afghan forces have neutralised 90 landmines during the past two days,” Sabawoon said and feared the explosives threatened the lives of local people until defused.

A resident of Hassan Kala village, Roohullah, said militants had planted bombs everywhere after Afghan forces launched the offensive to drive them.

“People cannot travel on roads because of the roadside bombs, which can cause casualties to civilians if not defused,” he said.

A 203^rd Thunder Military Corps spokesman, Nazifullah Sultani, said a large number of bombs had already been detected by deminers and the process was underway.

A Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid confirmed that bombs had been planted in the mentioned area.

He said the remotely-controlled bombs would not be used against civilians, but were aimed at Afghan forces.

The last week saw fierce clashes between security forces and extremists, forcing nearly 300 residents to flee homes for the district centre.

The Taliban claimed they had inflected heavy casualties on Afghan forces, a claim local security officials denied.

Elsewhere in Ghazni, two civilians were killed and five others wounded as a result of a roadside bombing in Andar district on Sunday morning.

mds/ma

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