Roundup: Afghan air strikes kill 27 militants in south, Taliban overrun base in north

Amid ongoing militancy and counter- militancy in different parts of the conflict-ridden Afghanistan, the government air force pounded Taliban hideout in Taliban former stronghold the southern Helmand province on Tuesday killing over two dozen insurgents and wounding over a dozen other.

"Acting upon intelligence report the government forces conducted air raids against a Taliban hideout in Gereshk district of Helmand province early Tuesday leaving 27 armed rebels dead and injured 16 others," Gereshk district police chief Abdul Qayum Barak told Xinhua.

No casualty has been inflicted to civilians during the air strikes, the official asserted.

Taliban militants who are active in Gereshk and other parts of Helmand province haven't commented.

Notorious for growing poppy and insurgency, Helmand with Lashkar Gah as its capital, 555 km south of Kabul, has been regarded as Taliban hotbed in the conflict-hit Afghanistan.

However, the Taliban militants fighting the government to regain power, in a breakthrough have overrun a military base in Dand-e-Ghori district of the northern Baghlan province.

In an online statement on Tuesday, the militant group claimed that its fighters following fierce fighting captured Shahr-e-Now locality in Dand-e-Ghori area in the outskirt of Baghlan provincial capital Pul-e-Khumri, 160 km north of Kabul.

According to Taliban claim, two security personnel had been killed and 18 others made captive following the fall of Shar-e-Now locality to the Taliban fighters.

Officials have confirmed the clash in Dand-e-Ghori area but have avoided commenting on security forces possible casualties.

Militancy and conflicts get momentum in spring and summer in Afghanistan commonly known as fighting season among Afghans. Endi