30 villages cleared of insurgents in Ghazni: officials

GHAZNI CITY (Pajhwok): Thirty villages in the Khogyani district of southern Ghazni province have been cleared of militants as a result of a clearing operation, officials said on Monday.

They conducted clearing operations two days ago in Khogyani district, killing a Taliban Mohibullah along with three others, a commander of 3^rd brigade of th 203^rd Thunder Military corps, Lt. Col. Toryalai, told Pajhwok Afghan News. He said several others militants were wounded during the operation.

Deputy provincial police chief Asadullah Shujaee said several villages had been cleared of the presence of militants in Khogyani. “We have captured areas from Taliban where they had established trenches and would fire at security forces from there,” he said.

However, a Taliban spokesman, Zabihullah Mujahid, said security personnel had been unable to make any progress.

He said a dozen policemen and only one Taliban member have been killed during clashes between the two sides.

Separately, three members of the Haqqani network) said.

It identified the detainees as Ahmadzai, Mohammad Omar and Salam Jan, saying two Kalashnikovs with eight magazines, two walkie-talkies and some explosives had also been recovered from the rebels.

myn/ma