KANDAHAR CTIY (Pajhwok): A Taliban-designated governor and his deputy were among 45 insurgents killed during an operation in the Shah Wali Kot district of southern Kandahar province, an official said on Monday.
The five-day operations were conducted by Afghan security and defence forces in the districtafter the militants attacked checkpoints in Kata Sang and Albak areas and blocked the Kandahar-Uruzgan road by planting bombs on the highway.
The security forces were defusing landmines on Sunday evening when the militants attacked them. The forces were already prepared to respond to the attack, the governor’s spokesman, Samim Khpalwak, told Pajhwok Afghan News.
He said Taliban-designated governorHayatullah-- alias Haji Lala-- and his deputy Ahmad Shah -- alias Himmat -- were among 45 insurgents killed in the retaliatory attack. Police seized a huge quantity of weapons and ammunitions from the rebels.
Afghan National Army (ANA), police, Afghan Local Police (ALP) and the National Directorate of Security (NDS) personnel participated in the operations aimed to clear the Kandahar-Uruzgan highway and nearby areas of Taliban, police spokesman Zia Durranisaid.
Dozens of landmines planted on the road had been defused, he said. The fighters have issued no comment yet on the death of killing of their governor and deputy governor for Kandahar.
myn/mud
