Roundup: Afghan battle claims 34 lives in 2 days

Militancy and counter-militancy had claimed 34 lives, with majority of them armed militants, since Sunday in the conflict-ridden Afghanistan, officials confirmed Monday.

The Taliban outfit in the latest violent incident stormed a police station in Jalalabad city, the capital of eastern Nangarhar province Sunday night and during the clash which lasted till Monday morning, five attackers had been killed and another injured. "Five militants were killed after a six-member group armed with suicide vests and assault rifles raided a police station in Jalalabad city at around 11:10 p.m. local time Sunday and police returned fire, provincial police spokesman Hazrat Housain Mashriqiwal said. "The attack triggered gun battle which lasted till Monday morning during which five militants were killed and another was captured after receiving injuries," Mashriqiwal told Xinhua.

He also admitted that nine police personnel and one civilian were wounded during the conflict.

Two more Taliban commanders were killed in Marjah district of the southern Helmand province as police laid ambush Sunday night, the Interior Ministry said in a statement released here Monday.

Moreover, a crackdown against Taliban militants in Ghorak district of Taliban former stronghold, the southern Kandahar province, Sunday night left 27 people including two civilians and 25 armed militants dead, Kandahar provincial police spokesman Zia Durani said. "Units of security forces launched operations in Ghorak district Sunday morning and so far 25 armed insurgents have been killed and 45 others injured," Zia Durani told Xinhua.

Two civilians were also killed and three others including two police and a civilian sustained injury during the operations, the official admitted.

The operations would continue till sweeping out all insurgents and ensuring law and order there in Ghorak district, Durani asserted. Endit