27 lives lost to violence in 24 hours

JALALABAD/ASADABAD (Pajhwok): At least 20 insurgents and seven security men have been killed and several others wounded during bomb blasts and armed clashes in eastern Nangarhar and Kunar provinces and other parts over the past 24 hours, officials said on Sunday.

Six militants were killed on Saturday during a NATO airstrike in Kodo area of the Batikot district, Nangarhar police spokesman Hazrat Hussain Mashriqiwal told Pajhwok Afghan News.

He said the insurgents killed had been involved in a series of attacks on security forces.

A resident of the Batikot district, Syed Amin, said another three persons were injured in the airstrike that took place a kilometre away from his home.

According to Mashriqiwal, three insurgents were killed in a drone strike in Lal Qala area of the Achin district late on Saturday.

The same day, militants stormed a police post in the Pacheragam district, sparking a battle with police. In the ensuing clash, four attackers, including a Pakistani, were killed and another three seriously injured might have died during their transfer, the police spokesman said.

Police had confiscated some weapons, ammunitions and “spying documents” from the clash site, Mashriqiwal claimed, saying the security forces stayed unhurt.

He also said Afghan forces conducted a night time operation in the Momand Dara district, killing two insurgents and injuring a third.

Several suspects were also detained during the operation and seven different kinds of weapons were seized.

On the other land, the Taliban claimed security forces had suffered casualties during clashes with the fighters in some districts of Nangarhar.

In neighbouring Kunar, clashes took place between security forces and insurgents, with both sides suffering casualties.

Kunar police chief Abdul Habib Syedkhel told Pajhwok Afghan News the rebels launched an attack on a public order police post in the Manogi district last night, killing two policemen and injuring three others. Six attackers were killed and a dozen more injured when the police returned fire, he said.

But a Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid claimed five policemen had been killed during the clash in Manogi.

Meanwhile, the Ministry of Defence (MoD) in Kabul announced that five Afghan National Army (ANA) service members had died in roadside bomb attacks over the past 24 hours.

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