Strong spy force seen behind Dangam attacks

ASADABAD (Pajhwok): So far at least 40 security personnel have suffered casualties in the ongoing conflict in Dangam district of eastern Kunar province, an official said on Saturday.

“It is a planned intelligence war underway in Dangam,” 201st Selab Military Corps commander Maj. Gen. Mohammad Zaman Waziri told a meeting in Asadabad, the provincial capital.

First Deputy Chief Executive Officer Mohammad Khan, Governor Shujaul Mulk Jalala and other security officials were present on the occasion.

Waziri said the attacks on Dangam had been planned with support from a strong intelligence source as the onslaughts were beyond Taliban’s capability.

Hundreds of armed rebels last week stormed check-posts installed by local residents to protect their areas and the clashes have since been underway.

Jalala warned losing Dangam to the rebels would have dire consequences for the government. He said security forces were yet to reach areas where lives of civilians, including women and children, were in danger.

Leaders of the uprising said several of their fighters had been killed and wounded during the ongoing war, but government forces were yet to properly assist them.

Eng. Mohammad Khan said the Ministry of Defence would launch airstrikes in Dangam this afternoon. He told Governor Jalala to identify families whose houses had been torched.

Defence Ministry choppers pounded militant positions in Sorkamar and Sawon areas this afternoon, but the strikes lived for a short time and there has been not further bombardment.

nh/ma