Roundup: 16 militants killed after Afghan troops repelled Taliban attack on major northern highway

Taliban militants targeted the major northern highway linking the national Afghan capital Kabul to six provinces, including the major northern city of Mazar-e-Sharif. But their attempts have been foiled after suffering casualties, security officials said on Sunday.

"Taliban rebels attacked security checkpoints in Chashma-e-Shir area Saturday night, triggering gun battle which lasted for hours and finally the militants after leaving 16 bodies behind fled away," spokesman for police in the province Jawed Basharat told Xinhua.

Fifteen more militants, according to the spokesman, have been killed.

The strategically important Baghlan province with Pul-e-Khumri as its capital 160 km north of Kabul has been the scene of Taliban-led militancy over the past couple of years and the militants have mounted pressure on Dand-e-Ghori and Dand-e-Shahabudin districts outside provincial capital to gain access to Kabul-Mazar highway.

Chashma-e-Shir village is situated next to a major highway linking the capital of Kabul to the largest northern Mazar-e-Sharif city and the fighting on Saturday led to closure of the highway for a while, Basharat said.

"The highway is open and the movement of traffic is continuing as usual," he said.

Sporadic fighting, according to locals, has been continuing in Chashma-e-Shir village of Dand-e-Shahabudin and its neighboring Dand-e-Ghori districts.

Army official Shir Aziz Kamawal in Baghlan's neighboring Kunduz province has also confirmed the Taliban onslaught on Chashma-e-Shir village and closure of the Kabul-Mazar highway for hours on Saturday.

"Militants closed the Mazar-Kabul highway for several hours on Saturday evening in Chashma-e-Shir area, but the security forces were able to dislodge Taliban rebels after fierce fighting and killing 16 insurgents," Kamawal told Xinhua.

Without commenting on suffering security forces, the official noted that a cleanup operation is going on to ensure lasting peace in the area.

Meantime, local observers have warned that closure of Kabul-Mazar highway would be catastrophic for the government and eventually enables Taliban to mount pressure on Baghlan's provincial capital of Pul-e-Khumri.

"The closure of Kabul-Mazar highway in Chashma-e-Shir, from one hand, would disrupt traffic movement between Kabul and eight northern provinces. From the other, it would boost Taliban moral to exert pressure on Pul-e-Khumri city," Bashir Ahmad Ghazali told Xinhua.

Meantime, a member of Baghlan Provincial Council, Bismillah Atash, confirmed that the Taliban militants had mounted pressure on Pul-e-Khumri city Saturday night. Endit