Girl among 21 killed in Wardak, Helmand

MAIDAN SHAHR (Pajhwok): A young woman was among 21 people killed during separate incidents in Maidan Wardak and Helmand provinces, officials said on Wednesday.

The 19-years-old woman was killed late on Tuesday when a mortar shell allegedly fired by militants hit her house in the Jaghatu district of Wardak, the governor’s spokesman said.

Attaullah Khogyani told Pajhwok Afghan News the victim’s three sisters, who were injured in the incident, were taken to a hospital in Kabul.

The militants are yet to comment on mortar fire in Wardak, where two drivers were killed when their trucks collided on the Kabul-Kandahar highway in Nirkh district. Khogyani confirmed the accident and blamed it on carelessness by the drivers.

In southern Helmand province, 18 militants, including four commanders, were killed during a clash with security forces in the Nawzad district.

The district chief, Murad Sadat, said the clash broke out after a group of insurgents stormed Afghan National Army (ANA) and police posts in the Surkano area on Wednesday morning.

Murad identified the slain Taliban Sattar, Shah Wali and Jamil. The clash also left two security men and 22 rebels wounded, he added.

The Taliban have not yet commented on the clash in Nawzad, but their spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid claimed Afghan forces suffered heavy casualties and their two posts were captured by the fighters in Sangin district.

mds/ma