11 rebels, 2 ANA soldiers killed in Kunduz, Ghor

KUNDUZ/FIROZKOH (Pajhwok): Nearly a dozen militants and two Afghan soldiers have been killed during separate security incidents in Kunduz and Ghor provinces, the Ministry of Defense (MoD) said on Monday.

A MoD statement said nine militants were killed and four others wounded during operations in Dasht-i-Archi district and Gortapa area on the outskirts of Kunduz City on Sunday.

It added Pul Momin, Qabchinha, Pasha Qashlaq and Khwajah Noor villages had been cleared from insurgents as a result of the operations.

Two ANA soldiers were lost to clashes with insurgents and roadside bombings, the statement said.

A resident of Pul Momin village, Azizullah, told Pajhwok Afghan News Taliban militants had been operating over the past two years in border areas between Kunduz and Takhar province, frequently attacking security posts.

He said residents had been unable to work in their farm fields and many had displaced to Khawja Ghar district due to the increasing insecurity.

On Saturday, Kunduz officials said more than 60 rebels, including foreigners, were killed and tens others wounded during the Operation Shaheen-9.

Elsewhere, two militants were killed in a blast caused by their own explosives in western Ghor province.

Governor Syed Rahmati said the pair was busy making a bomb when it went off in Muajireen township on the outskirts of Firozkoh, the provincial capital, on Sunday night.

mds/ma