Roundup: Afghan Taliban suffer casualties in northern Kunduz, gain ground in NE Badakhshan

Taliban militants have faced setback in the northern Kunduz province as 13 armed insurgents were killed on Sunday.

The casualties inflicted to Taliban militants just a day after the armed outfit gained ground in Tirgaran valley of Wardoj district in the northeast Badakhshan province, officials said.

More than a dozen armed insurgents were killed as government forces artillery pounded Taliban position in the northern Kunduz province with Kunduz city as its capital 250 km north of the national capital Kabul city Sunday morning, a security official said. "Acting upon intelligence report the security forces targeted Taliban hideout with artillery in Bagh-e-Shirkat area Sunday morning killing 13 rebels on the spot,"an army spokesman in the province, Captain Ghulam Hazrat, told Xinhua.

The deadly attack on Taliban took place just a day after the armed group captured a military base in the strategically important Tirgaran valley of Wardoj district, Badakhshan province.

Taliban militants after days of fierce fighting overrun Tirgaran area on Saturday evening and captured 125 police personnel.

However, the militants, according to governor of Wardoj district, Dawlat Khawar, set free all the 125 police personnel on Sunday.

Zabihullah Mujahid who claims to speak for the Taliban outfit in contact with media on Sunday confirmed the fall of Tirgaran and said the Taliban militants are in control of military base in Tirgaran area.

Meanwhile, Badakhshan police chief General Baba Jan in talks with local media on Sunday morning confirmed the fall of Tirgaran valley to the Taliban fighters and alleged that some local officials after reaching deal with the Taliban handed over the control of military base to militants in Tirgaran area.

The fall of Tirgaran valley to the Taliban militants, according to political observers, would facilitate the hardliner outfit to infiltrate into neighboring Zebak, Baharak and Ashkashim districts. Endi