FAIZABAD (Pajhwok): Officials said on Monday that a fresh offensive has been launched amid reports of foreign rebels’ presence in the northeastern Badakhshan province.
The Ministry of Interior (MoI) in a statement said that the operation in Tagab district of the province just concluded with the killing of four rebels.
Nine insurgents’ sustained injuries and 11 others detained during the course of opereation, the MoI said.
Twelve Kalashnikovs, two machine guns, two rocket launchers, 28 boxes of bullets, 19 roadside bombs, two walki-talkies and weapons of different brands were also recovered during the operation, the statement added.
Security forces suffered no casualties during the offensive, he claimed.
However, police spokesman Lala Mohammad Ahmadzai told Pajhwok Afghan News that the operation had to be launched again on demand of residents last night. Twenty villages had been cleared of militants, he added.
Apart from Afghan rebels, he said that a number of insurgents were of Chechen, Uzbek and Tajikistani origins who were fighting against Afghan security forces.
But he had no exact figures into militants’ casualties.
The MoI in a separate statement said that a second group of 18 militants led by their commander Safiullah joined the peace process in Tagab district on Sunday.
Provincial police chief Lt. Gen. Baba Jan said that the group was operating in the area and launching attacks on government installations.
The rebels pledged to work in larger interests of the country and shun violence.
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