Afghan officials say at least 100 Taliban militants have been killed and 50 others injured when Afghan and US-led NATO forces mounted joint airstrikes against the militant group in Afghanistan’s southern province of Kandahar.
Local officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, said on Saturday that the aerial assaults targeted the terrorists in the Shorabak district of the province, located approximately 186 kilometers northeast of the capital, Kabul, the previous day.
The officials added that the Taliban members had gathered in an area in Shorabak, and were planning to wrest control of the district in a major offensive. However, Afghan and foreign forces foiled the plot as they bombarded the terrorists’ hideouts.
The unnamed authorities further noted that the Taliban militants had recently flocked to the Shorabak district from bordering areas, and that no civilians were killed or injured in the strikes.
The Taliban militant group has made no comment on the report so far.
The Afghan Defense Ministry said in a statement on Friday that 175 militants were killed and 82 others injured in a series of operations across the country. Afghan soldiers also lost their lives during the offensives, according to the statement.
Afghan soldiers also confiscated light and heavy weapons, defusing several rounds of improvised explosive devices (IEDs).
Afghanistan is gripped by insecurity nearly 14 years after the United States and its allies attacked the country in 2001 as part of Washington’s so-called war on terror.
source : abna24
