30 Taliban, 6 police killed in north violence

FARAH (Pajhwok): Thirty Taliban militants and half a dozen police have been killed in insurgency related violence in northern Farah, Faryab and Badghis provinces, officials said Wednesday.

Farah police chief, Brig. Gen. Abdul Maroof Polad said a large number of Taliban militants stormed a police post in Kansak area, killing two policemen and wounding four others. He said at least 30 Taliban fighters were killed and scores of others wounded after the police retaliated.

A resident of Kansak area, Ghausuddin, said seven policemen were killed in the attack and the Taliban also drove away a police tank.

“Taliban’s dead bodies could not be seen in the area, but blood spots in Kansak streets show the Taliban had shifted their dead and wounded fighters overnight to somewhere else.”

The Taliban claimed killing five government forces and wounding six others and capturing three police posts in the Kansak area. They also denied suffering casualties in the attack.

In Badghis, a member of the provincial council said that three Taliban militants and two policemen were killed during a clash on the outskirts of the provincial capital on Wednesday morning.

But the provincial police chief said police did not suffer casualties in the clash.

In Faryab, two policemen were killed and their tank destroyed after being hit by a landmine in Dawlatabad district of the province, the district chief said.

Syed Abdul Salam said the blast took place on Wednesday before noon in Sheikhano village where the police were on a patrol.

kh/ma