Security forces launch operation to free district in Afghanistan

Afghan security forces on Sunday launched an operation to free a district in northern province of Kunduz earlier seized by Taliban militants, an army source said.

On Saturday evening, Taliban militants took control over the center of Chardara district, some 6 km west of provincial capital Kunduz city, following two-day heavy clashes.

"Our security forces launched the raid at early hours of Sunday to free Chardara district," Major Ghulam Hazrat, an army spokesman in the province, told Xinhua.

Unofficial sources said that at least 12 army soldiers and a young woman caught in cross fire were killed while over one dozen members of the security forces were wounded during Saturday's clashes in Chardara.

Locals said that the militants were leaving the district center at early hours of Sunday after torching government office buildings and planting landmines at the area.

Meanwhile, the militants tried to capture areas in eastern Kunduz city after attacking security checkpoints overnight Saturday, but they failed to advance due to the heavy resistance of security forces.

The province, bordering Tajikistan, has been the scene of heavy fighting earlier this year as security forces have repelled militants, who tried to take control of several districts near the Kunduz city, 250 km north of Afghan capital. Endi