Roundup: Over 170 killed in major attacks in Afghanistan in Sept.

More than 170 people, largely civilians, lost their lives while about 600 others injured in Taliban-led attacks and conflicts across Afghanistan in September, according to official sources.

The number of bomb attacks had decreased last month compared with the previous months as the Taliban militants have reportedly changed their tactics by conducting massive attacks on towns and districts.

In the latest such attacks, the Taliban militant group seized full control of Kunduz city, capital of northern Kunduz province on Monday, Sept. 28.

On Thursday, the security forces launched a counter-attack in the city and fighting is still going on there as of Friday.

As of Friday morning, up to 60 civilians had been killed and nearly 400 others wounded in clashes and sporadic fightings in the city, 250 km north of Afghan capital of Kabul, according to information provided by Afghan officials.

The Taliban has intensified attacks over the past couple of months as the Afghan security forces assumed the full security responsibilities from NATO-led troops since Jan. 1.

Last month, the Taliban militants launched 20 bomb attacks, including six suicide bombings throughout the country.

On Sept. 27, some 17 civilians, including 15 children, were killed and 50 civilians were wounded after a suicide bomber struck a volleyball playground in eastern Paktika province.

In another attack, one foreign soldier, a civilian and four policemen were wounded after a suicide bomber rammed a car bomb into a security checkpoint near Kandahar city, capital of southern Kandahar province, 450 km south of Kabul, on Sept. 20.

On Sept. 16, four civilians and one senior police official were killed and 41 others wounded by a suicide car bombing in Paghman district in western outskirts of Kabul city.

The militants attacked a prison in eastern Ghazni province, killing four police and injuring seven police personnel. The attack occurred after a Taliban suicide truck bombing destroyed the main gate of the prison outside provincial capital of Ghazni city, 125 km south of Kabul.

Some 436 prisoners had been held in the prison, and 355 of them were able to escape following the attack which took place on Sept. 14. But security forces had recaptured only three escapees. Nearly 150 escapees were allegedly Taliban members.

At least four targeted killings occurred in a number of provinces in last month, claiming the lives of government officials and local leaders.

In one attack, Yama Behroz, a local reporter, was killed in a bomb attack in northern Badakhsan province on Sept. 17.

In the month, Taliban militants also launched a string of massive attacks on security checkpoints and army outposts, killing and injuring scores of security forces. The exact number of casualties on the army and police last month remained unknown.

On Sept. 22, one service member of the NATO-led Resolute Support mission was killed following an attack near Bagram Airfield, the main foreign forces' base in eastern Parwan province, 60 km north of Kabul.

In August this year, some 220 people were killed and nearly 650 others wounded throughout the central Asian country.

Nearly 1,600 civilians were killed and more than 3,300 others wounded in conflicts and attacks in the first half of the year, according to UN mission figures released in early August. Endi