22 killed in overnight unrest in Paktika, Helmand

SHARANA/LASHKARGAH (Pajhwok): Overnight clashes and a bomb blast left 20 insurgents and two security men dead in southern Helmand and southeastern Paktika provinces, officials said Monday.

Seven insurgents were killed and four others wounded during a clash with Afghan Local Police personnel in Towda area of Mata Khan district Sunday night, acting Paktika police chief Dadullah Khan Hotak said.

He told Pajhwok Afghan News another three militants were killed and as many injured in a blast caused by their own explosives in Dani area of Urgun district.

Elsewhere in Paktika, five Taliban were killed and three others wounded in a gun battle with border police in Giyan district on Sunday night, according to Hotak. He added two border police were also killed in the clash and the dead rebels included a notorious commander, Momin.

A resident of the district, Gul Agha, said one woman was killed and three children were wounded as a result of the clash between Taliban and security forces in Giyan.

The Taliban have said nothing about the incidents in Giyan and Mata Khan incidents, but the group’s spokesman, Zabihullah Mujahid, said the fighters killed several security forces in Urgun and Khoshamand districts.

In Helmand province, five Taliban fighters, including a notorious commander, Mullah Mahbob, lost their lives to a landmine blast in Majetak area of Garamsir district, police spokesman Lt. Abdul Salam Afghan said.

While a security official, who did not want to be named, said two policemen were killed when a roadside mine hit their vehicle in Nawa district.

sa/ma