183 rebels killed in Operation Shafaq, commander claims

KUNDUZ CITY (Pajhwok): More than 180 militants have been killed and 170 others wounded during military offensive codenamed Shafaq, and official said on Wednesday.

Afghan security forces launched the countrywide counter-insurgency operation at the beginning of current solar year.

Brig. Gen. Mohiuddin Ghori, commander of the 20^th Pamir Unit in northeastern Afghanistan, told reporters the offensive had yielded effective results in Kunduz province.

He said the operation was underway in Tulka-2 locality on the outskirts of Kunduz City, while Alchin and Tulka-1 areas had been purged of insurgents. Seven tanks and militant hideouts were destroyedin Dasht-i-Arch and Kunduz City.

The ongoing offensive would continue till fall, the commander promised, admitting the pace of the operation had been slow due to landmines and extraordinary caution to prevent civilian casualties.

Enayatullah Khaliq, a civil society activist, claimed more than 2,000 families had been displaced as a result of the military action. If the offensive continued, he warned, more families would be displaced.

The Taliban have not yet commented on security officials’ claims, but the group earlier denied suffering fatalities and claimed to have inflicted heavy losses on the security personnel.

Separately, the Taliban attacked a security check-post in the Baharak district of northeastern Badakhshan province, police chief Brig. Gen. Abdul Wadud Rasekh said.

He said the insurgents stormed the check-post at around 5:00am and the fight was still ongoing.Five assailants, including a foreigner, were killedand three others arrested during the gun battle, he concluded.

nh/mud

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