Roundup: Taliban bomb blast kills 4, Afghan forces kill 11 militants

Militancy and counter-militancy have claimed the lives of 15 people including four civilians in the conflict-ridden Afghanistan over the past two days, officials confirmed Monday.

In the violent roadside bombing which happened in the northern Baghlan province Sunday evening, four civilians had lost their lives, a local official said.

"A mine planted by militants on a road in Burka district of Baghlan province struck a car on Sunday evening, killing four civilian travelers on the spot," the governor of Burka district, Abdul Jabar Islami told reporters.

The official put the attack on Taliban militants, but the armed outfit fighting the government to regain power has yet to claim responsibility.

Meanwhile, the counter-insurgency operations launched by government forces have left at least 11 militants including a key commander dead elsewhere in the country since Sunday.

Afghan forces in efforts to retake the Yamgan district in Badakhshan province have killed 10 militants over the past two days, deputy to provincial police chief, Ghulam Sakhi Haidari said Monday.

"Units of police and army during joint operations against Taliban which were launched on Sunday to regain the control of Yamgan district have so far left 10 rebels including their commander Qari Abdul Basit dead," Haidari told Xinhua.

Taliban militants who captured Yamgan district following heavy fighting on Saturday, insisted they are in control of Yamgan district.

Haidari also said the government troops enjoying air support would soon liberate Yamgan district from the clutches of Taliban insurgents.

In a similar operation against Taliban militants, the security forces had targeted and killed a Taliban key commander in the eastern Kunar province on Sunday, Kunar provincial police chief Abdul Habib Sayed Khili said.

"Acting upon intelligence report, security forces conducted drone attack on Taliban hideout in Chapa Dara district Sunday evening, killing Taliban key commander Mullah Asmatullah," Sayed Khili told reporters.

Mullah Asmatullah was the commander of some 100 fighters and his physical elimination could prove a major setback to the armed militants, Sayed Khili asserted.

In retaliation, the Taliban militants, according to police, fired a mortar on Sunday night which struck a house in the neighboring Manogai district, injuring four persons from a family.

Warring sides in Afghanistan, according to political observers, usually do their best to take more ground ahead of the harsh winter onset in the mountainous country. Endi