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Afghan army defuses 5 improvised bombs

Xinhua, April 7, 2016 Adjust font size:

The Afghan National Army had found and defused five Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs) in the country's northern province of Kunduz, an army source said Thursday.

"The IEDs were found by army's bomb disposal teams during an ongoing operation in Taloka locality in the outskirts of provincial capital Kunduz city within the last 24 hours," Nasratullah Jamshidi, spokesman of army Corps 209 Shaheen, told Xinhua.

The cleanup operations were launched by the Afghan security forces in surrounding areas of Kunduz city, 250 Km north of Afghan capital of Kabul, over the weekend and so far more than 30 militants had been killed and 20 others wounded, the source added.

"The operation will continue before the area is cleared of the militants," he said.

The Taliban militant group has been using IEDs to target security forces but the lethal weapons also inflict casualties on civilians, he said.

More than 700 civilians were killed and over 1,600 injured by IED attacks across the country last year, according to the official figures.

In addition, the personnel of National Security Directorate (NDS) have found and defused four suicide bombing jackets from a Taliban hideout in Kakas village, Qarghayi District of eastern Laghman Province, the NDS said in a statement earlier on Thursday.

The Taliban militant group tried to conduct suicide attacks in a crowded area of the provincial capital of Mehtarlam city, according to the statement.

The statement added that the timely seizure of the jackets has foiled a major terror attack and saved the city, some 90 km east Kabul, from an expected tragedy.

The Afghan security forces have beefed up security operations against militants recently as spring and summer known as fighting season are drawing near in the Asian country. Enditem