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Roundup: Operations for recapturing Afghan northern Darqad district claims 17 lives

Xinhua, January 9, 2016 Adjust font size:

Afghan government forces operations for recapturing the strategically important Darqad district along the border with Tajikistan have claimed the lives of 17 Taliban militants including Darqad's shadowy governor Mullah Basir on Saturday, police said.

"Since launching the operations to recapture Darqad district, 17 rebels including Taliban shadowy district governor Mullah Basir nickname Mullah Kamal have been killed," police spokesman for Takhar province, Abdul Khalil Asir told Xinhua.

Five security personnel have also been injured since launching the operations, Asir said, adding the crackdown against Taliban in Darqad district is in full swing and would last until the government controlled the district.

Units of police backed by the army and National Directorate for Security launched well-coordinated operations against Taliban positions in Darqad district at 02:00 a.m. local time Saturday to recapture the district which borders Tajikistan.

Taliban militants who overrun the strategically important Darqad district in last October have yet to make comment.

Meanwhile, the Afghan Defense Ministry in a statement released on Saturday reported killing 30 armed militants during cleanup operations elsewhere in the conflict-hit country over the past 24 hours.

According to the statement, 15 more armed insurgents have been wounded over the period.

Defense Ministry in the statement also admitted that seven army soldiers have lost their lives during the crackdown against insurgents.

Militancy and counter-militancy have got momentum in the conflict-hit Afghanistan since last April when Taliban outfit launched its so-called spring offensive in the country.

Taliban militants who have been fighting to regain power in Afghanistan have marked the herald of 2016 with accelerating bloody offensives in the war-torn country.

Local analysts believe that the hardliner Taliban would escalate activities mostly in the shape of suicide bombings ahead of the proposed peace talks and joining the peace process with Afghan government. Enditem