KANDAHAR CITY (Pajhwok): At least 21 people have been killed or wounded in clashes between the security forces and Taliban in southern Kandahar province.
On the other hand, local officials asked residents of Kandahar City, where Taliban militants hiding, to go to safe places ahead of operations.
Maj. Sadiq Essa, spokesman for the 205th Atal Military Corps, told Pajhwok Afghan News that seven fighters were killed and three others wounded during a clash in the seventh police district on Wednesday.
On the other hand, health officials said late on Wednesday that three bodies and 18 injured people had been brought to hospitals from battle scenes in the past 24 hours.
The officials had said the injured included 10 civilians and eight security force members.
Dr. Mohammad Daud Farhad, head of the Mirwais Zonal Hospital, said three of the dead were yet to be identified.
The injured included two women, three children, five men and eight soldiers, he said.
As violence spreads in this southern city and elsewhere in the country, the Taliban have not yet commented on the situation.
On the other hand, the 03 Unit of the National Directorate of Security (NDS) asked people living in areas where Taliban are hiding to move their families to safer places.
An official of the unit, who wished to go unnamed, said the militants initiated offensives against the government in Kandahar City last month.
He added the rebels used civilian houses as trenches and fired from there on members of the security forces.
But the Afghan forces had not conducted any attacks on civilian houses where the militants were holed up, he explained.
mds/mud
