File photo: A member of the Afghan security forces stands guard next to damaged army vehicles after a Taliban attack in Ghazni city
At least 10 policemen were killed in clashes with Taliban fighters in the central Afghan province of Wardak, officials said on Sunday, amid fighting to wrest control of arterial highways a day after Taliban fighters blew up bridges.
The Taliban set fire to a government building in Wardak's Sayeed Abad district and killed the district police chief along with nine other policemen on Saturday night, a senior police official said.
Repeated assaults on strategically important provinces, such as Wardak and nearby Ghazni, have been a show of strength for the Taliban, underscoring how volatile security remains in Afghanistan two weeks before nationwide parliamentary elections.
Abdul Rahman Mangal, a spokesman for the Wardak governor's office, said the Taliban raided some civilian houses after killing 10 policemen, destroyed newly built checkpoints and cut power to some parts of the city.
Government forces counter-attacked to stop the insurgents from approaching the city, Mangal said.
At least 10 policemen were killed in clashes with Taliban fighters in the central Afghan province of Wardak, officials said on Sunday, amid fighting to wrest control of arterial highways a day after Taliban fighters blew up bridges.
Taliban kill at least ten police in central Afghanistan
A statement from the Taliban's main spokesman, Zabihullah Mujahid, said the insurgents had taken the centre of Sayeed Abad and all surrounding security checkpoints, killing numerous members of the security forces and seizing weapons, ammunition and vehicles.
Mohammad Arif Noori, a spokesman for Ghazni's governor, said one soldier was killed by Taliban fighters as they tried to gain control over parts of the province nearly two months after being pushed back from the city by U.S.-backed Afghan forces.
The Taliban attacked Ghazni, a strategically important centre straddling the main highway linking Kabul with Afghanistan's south, in August. It was the largest tactical operation launched by the Taliban since they overran the northern city of Kunduz in 2015.
That confrontation killed 150 members of Afghanistan's security forces and 95 civilians, as well as hundreds of Taliban fighters.
Heavily armed Taliban fighters destroyed bridges near the central city of Ghazni on Saturday, closing the main highway between the capital Kabul and southern Afghanistan, officials said.Sporadic clashes erupted between Afghan soldiers and Taliban insurgents who were trying to gain control over parts of Ghazni province nearly two months after being pushed back from the city by U.S.-backed Afghan forces, officials added.Mohammad Arif Noori, the governor’s spokesman in Ghazni, said fighting was ongoing and the Afghan army had deployed helicopters to prevent the militants from entering the city centre."We are fully prepared to attack them. This time the province will not fall into the hands of the Taliban," Noori said.Three women, one child killed following air raid in AfghanistanFive militants were killed as they were planting bombs on three bridges on the Kabul-Kandahar highway, Noori added.Residents of Qarabagh district, 55 km (35 miles) south of Ghazni city, said the militants had set up checkpoints and did not allow vehicles to pass through several residential areas.The attack on Ghazni was a show of strength for the Taliban, underscoring how volatile the security situation remains two weeks before the parliamentary elections.Pakistani religious leaders to work for Afghan peacePolling has already been called off in Ghazni province after the Taliban overran it in August and besieged the city for five days.That confrontation killed 150 Afghan security forces and 95 civilians dead, as well as hundreds of Taliban fighters, said officials then.President Ashraf Ghani's Western-backed government pledged $20 million for relief and reconstruction of Ghazni after security forces defeated the Taliban fighters in that battle. Afghan government rejects proposals to privatise war
Afghan forces, Taliban battle for control of highway in Ghazni province
At least four civilians, including three women and a child, were killed in Afghanistan's restive Kandahar province on Friday following an air raid, according to a local official.Provincial police spokesman Zia Durrani told Anadolu Agency that the Taliban caused the casualties by firing at a wedding party in the Maruf district after coming under air raid by security forces."The foreign forces targeted two vehicles of the Taliban in Khogyani area of the district, but they escaped and tried to hide in a wedding party, and from there the rebels and the security forces exchanged fire," he said.Pakistani religious leaders to work for Afghan peaceDurrani confirmed a child and three women were killed in the incident, while seven more women and another child were wounded.The NATO-led Resolute Support Mission in Afghanistan has not commented on the incident yet. The Taliban claims the civilians were killed due to the air raid.Last month, the UN in Afghanistan expressed serious concerns over surging civilian casualties in airstrikes.In a statement, the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) said 353 civilian casualties including 149 deaths and 204 injured were documented in the first six months of 2018 from aerial strikes, a 52 percent increase from the same period in 2017.The UNAMA attributed 52 percent of all civilian casualties from aerial attacks to the Afghan Air Force, 45 percent to international military forces, and the remaining three percent to unidentified pro-government forces.Afghan government rejects proposals to privatise war
Three women, one child killed following air raid in Afghanistan