17 rebels killed in Baghlan offensive

PUL-I-KHUMRI (PAN leader was killed along with 16 fighters as a result of a security operation in the Baghlan-i-Markazi district of northern Baghlan province, an official said on Friday.

The operation that lasted 24 hours was conducted in the Anarkhel district, where a Taliban-designated district for the Baghlan-i-Markazi, Mullah Nisar, and another 16 insurgents were killed and five others detained, police spokesman Javed Basharat told Pajhwok Afghan News.

He said 10 villages were cleared of militants during the operation. But a Taliban spokesman, Zabihullah Mujahid, claimed seven policemen were killed and five others wounded during the clashes in Baghlan-i-Markazi, rejecting any fighter had been killed.

A day earlier, the Taliban claimed killing seven policemen in the district and injuring three others, a claim local officials deny.

ma