Roundup: Afghan battle kills 35 militants in 2 days: officials say

Military crackdown against Taliban in the northern Baghlan and western Badghis provinces has claimed the lives of 35 militants over the past two days, officials said Saturday.

"A total of 15 armed Taliban have been killed in Dand-e-Shahabudin and Dand-e-Ghori districts of Baghlan province since Friday morning," police spokesman in the province, Zabihullah Sheja told reporters on Saturday.

Seven more militants sustained injuries, the official asserted.

There was no casualty on security personnel, Sheja added.

Dand-e-Shahabudin and Dand-e-Ghori districts have been regarded as Taliban hotbed threatening the provincial capital Pul-e-Khumri.

The government forces, in efforts to dislodge militants from the said areas, launched a major offensive around one month ago which has claimed scores of lives from both warring sides as well as non-combatants.

Government forces onslaught has been continuing in Dand-e-Ghori and Dand-e-Shahabudin areas amid Taliban stiff resistance.

Taliban militants in Dand-e-Shahabudin also destroyed several power pylons and thus plunged Afghan capital Kabul into darkness over the past three weeks.

Similarly, military operations in parts of the restive Badghis province have left 20 militants dead since Friday, an army spokesman in the province, Shir Hamza said Saturday.

"A cleanup operation involving units of national army and police was launched in parts of Badghis province on Friday and so far 20 armed Taliban have been killed and 13 others injured," Hamza told Xinhua.

Eight security personnel have been injured during the operation, which is continuing, the official added.

Meanwhile, Taliban outfit in an online statement confirmed clashes in Badghis and Baghlan provinces, claiming its fighters have inflicted casualties on government forces in Sang-e-Atash district of Badghis, besides killing seven soldiers and injuring six others in Dand-e-Shahabudin over the past couple of days. Enditem