Commander among 3 rebels killed

MAIMANA (PAN killed during a clash with police in northern Faryab province, while as many members of the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan (IMU) were arrested in Baghlan, officials said on Saturday.

Police clashed with a group of insurgents after they attacked the main bazaar of Shakh area in the Qaisar district of Faryab, said the town’s administrative head, Abdul Jamil Siddiqui.

The clash left a Taliban commander, Mullah Mustafa, dead along with two others fighters and a policeman injured, he said.

On Friday night, the Taliban blew up a power pylon, disconnecting electricity to 48,000 families in Maimana, the provincial capital, and four nearby districts, said the Dawlatabad district chief, Syed Abdul Salam Nazhat.

In the same district, hundreds of vehicles were left stranded on the Maimana-Jawzjan highway due to a clash between insurgents and security forces.

In Baghlan, three IMU members were detained during a joint Afghan-ISAF operation in the Barka district Friday night, said the deputy police chief, Col. Sadiq Muradi.

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