Roundup: 56 people killed in intensified fighting in Afghanistan

Insurgency and counter attacks have intensified in conflict-hit Afghanistan as 56 people, including 12 civilians and 44 militants, have been killed since Thursday, officials said on Friday.

In the latest bloody fighting, which flared up in Marja district of the troubled Helmand province in south Afghanistan on Thursday, 13 Taliban fighters have been killed, according to a security official.

"Security forces launched major offensive against Taliban rebels in Marja district late Thursday night and so far 13 rebels including three key commanders have been killed and nine others injured," army spokesman in the province Brigadier Mohammad Rasoul Zazai told Xinhua.

The three important commanders killed in the operations identified as Mawlawi Rahmat, the military operational commander of Taliban, Mawlawi Hamidi, the in-charge of judiciary and military leader of Taliban in Marja and Mullah Dur Mohammad, a mine expert and commander of roadside bomb planter unit of Taliban in Helmand province, the official said.

According to Zazai, the killing of the three could be a major setback to the Taliban fighters in Marja district and in the restive Helmand province.

Similarly, the Afghan national army carried out series of air strikes against Taliban militants in Aband and Gilan districts of the eastern Ghazni province on Thursday, killing 29 insurgents and injuring 14 others, army spokesman in the province Mohammad Hanif Rezae said.

An army general and a district police chief have also been killed in the southern Kandahar and western Ghor province since Thursday.

However, 12 civilians - six children, three women and three men - were killed as their vehicle ran over a mine in Baghlan-e-Markazi district of the northern Baghlan province Thursday night, according to district governor Gohar Khan Babiri.

Babiri blamed the Taliban outfit for the incident, saying the deadly roadside bombing claimed the lives of 12 innocent civilians from two families.

Meanwhile, Taliban confirmed fighting in several provinces, including Helmand and Baghlan, claiming that it inflicted casualties on the government forces.

Fighting usually increases in Afghanistan in spring and summer commonly known as fighting season among Afghans. Endit