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Clashes leave 13 dead, 7 injured in N. Afghanistan

Xinhua, March 23, 2015 Adjust font size:

Clashes between security forces and Taliban militants killed 13 people, including seven militants, and injured seven others in the northern Saripul province Sunday night, a local official said on Monday.

"A group of Taliban militants begun firing on security checkpoints outside provincial capital Saripul city Sunday evening, which triggered gun battle and lasted till late night during which six persons, including two police and four civilians, had been killed and seven more civilians sustained injuries," head of provincial council Mohammad Noor Rahmani told Xinhua.

Meantime, the security forces, in a counterattack in Sozmaqala area on Sunday night, had killed seven armed militants, the official added.

The Taliban militants fighting the government have yet to make comment. Endi