Roundup: Blasts, conflicts cause heavy casualties in Afghanistan in 2 days

Bomb blasts and conflicts have caused heavy casualties in the conflict-ridden Afghanistan over the past two days.

A total of 25 Taliban militants, according to the Ministry of Interior, have been killed during a series of operations throughout the country since Tuesday.

"Afghan national police in conjunction with the units of the national army and National Directorate for Security have conducted series of operations in Parwan, Baghlan, Takhar, Kunduz, Badakhshan, Sar-e-Pul, Jowzjan, Balkh, Uruzgan, Ghazni, Paktiya, Herat, Farah and Helmand provinces over the past 24 hours during which 25 armed Taliban members have been killed," the statement of the Interior Ministry said.

According to the statement, 21 more militants have sustained injuries and three others have been arrested during the operations.

The statement, however, didn't say if there were casualties among security personnel. Taliban militants fighting the government have yet to make comments.

Meanwhile, the Taliban-linked suicide attack and roadside bombings had left 13 people dead and 47 others injured, mostly civilians on Tuesday evening.

A militant riding explosive-laden car blew it up next to a police vehicle in Taliban former stronghold, the southern Helmand' s provincial capital Lashkar Gah, at around 06:00 p.m. local time Tuesday, killing himself and seven others, all civilians, spokesman for Helmand provincial government, Omar Zawak, said.

In the deadly suicide bombing, according to Omar Zawak, 27 other people, including four police and 23 civilians, sustained injuries.

In a span of 15 minutes, at 06:15 p.m. local time, a roadside bomb against police vehicle in Pul-e-Khumri, the capital of the northern Baghlan province, killed one civilian and wounded 15 others including 13 civilians and two policemen, a provincial medical official Haleem Ghafari told Xinhua.

Some 15 minutes later at around 06:30 p.m., a similar roadside bombing targeted a police van in the southern Uruzgan's provincial capital Trinkot on Tuesday evening killed four people including three civilians and a police constable and wounded five civilians including two children.

Although no groups or individuals have claimed the responsibility, officials put the attacks on Taliban militants, saying the armed outfit by conducting subversive activities has been attempting to terrorize people.

In the conflict-ridden Afghanistan, spring and summer are known as fighting season and Afghans believe that anti-government militants would intensify activities as the weather gets warm and snow begins melting. Endi