LASHKARGAH/SHARAN (Pajhwok): At least 27 Taliban have been killed and ten others wounded in a military offensive launched by Afghan security forces in the Sangin district of southern Helmand province, an official said on Tuesday.
Fifteen rebels were killed and six others wounded in the Kalakaz locality in the operation codenamed “Zulfiqar”, Lt. Col. Mohammad Rasool Zazai, spokesman of the 215th Maiwand Military Corps, said.
Separately, eight insurgents were killed, including a dreaded commander Asmatullah, and four others wounded in a showdown with Afghan forces in the Wishtyano locality, he added.
Zazai said three mine planters have been killed in an overnight airstrike in the Shazada Kala locality but civilians remained unhurt.
But Taliban spokesman Qari Yousuf Ahmadi rejected officials’ claims by saying that six security personnel were killed in the face-off.
In southeastern Paktika province, four militants were killed in Kargar locality when the landmine they were planting exploded, a statement from the National Directorate of Security (NDS) said.
The slain rebels, including two Pakistanis, were making a mine inside a home, which exploded prematurely, the statement added. It said that a clash erupted between Taliban and Haqani Network men on the outskirts of Khoshamand district.
Elsewhere, three insurgent were killed in a US drone attack in the Khogyani district of eastern Nangarhar province, Ahmad Zia Abdulzai, the governor’s spokesman, said.
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