Roundup: Military crackdown, bomb blast kill 4, wound 5 in E. Afghanistan

Afghan security forces operations against anti-government militants have claimed the lives of four insurgents, while bomb blast left five people injured in eastern Nangarhar province police said.

According to police, at least four insurgents were killed as government forces launched operations in the mountainous Kot district Saturday morning.

Citing Nangarhar provincial police spokesman Hazrat Hussain Mashriqwal, local media reported that the operations which begun Saturday morning would last until all insurgents operating in Kot district are wiped out from the restive district and adjoining areas.

Without hinting at the possible casualties suffered at the side of the security forces during the operations, Mashriqwal said that two more insurgents sustained injuries during the crackdown which is still continuing.

The restive Kot district, according to locals, is going to change into the hotbed of the so-called Islamic State (IS) commonly known as Daesh militant group, which is more extreme than the Taliban outfit.

Daesh fighters are more brutal than the hardliner Taliban militants as the militants fighting for Daesh blown up 10 villagers with explosive devices a couple of weeks ago.

Meantime, Fazal Hadi Muslimyar, the chairman of Mushrano Jirga or Afghan Senate, has called upon the central government to take bold step against anti-government militants including Daesh outfit elsewhere in the conflict-hit country.

Moreover, a roadside bomb apparently organized by armed insurgents wounded five people including a parliamentarian in Jalalabad city on Saturday, a police official said.

"A parliamentarian Abdul Ghafar along with four others sustained injuries as a roadside bomb went off in 4th precinct of Jalalabad city at around noon today," the official told Xinhua but declined to be identified, saying authorized officials would brief the media after investigation.

Saturday is the third day of Muslims largest annual religious festival the Eid al-Adha in Afghanistan where the government has put in place all security measures to enable Afghans to celebrate Eid in a peaceful environment.

Warring sides have been striving hard to gain more grounds and consolidate their footholds ahead of harsh winter in the mountainous Afghanistan. Endi