Violence expands to 28 Afghan provinces: Defence Ministry

The Taliban staged attacks on the checkpoints and bases of the government forces in 28 provinces over the past 24 hours, but the government forces repelled their attacks and inflicted heavy casualties to them. Last month the Taliban launched a brazen attack on Lashkargah city, the centre of Helmand province, leaving thousands of people homeless.

Kabul: Violence has expanded to 28 out of 34 provinces in Afghanistan in the last 24 hours amidst constant delays to the start of direct peace negotiations between the Kabul government and the Taliban, the Defence Ministry said.

"The Taliban staged attacks on the checkpoints and bases of the government forces in 28 provinces over the past 24 hours, but the government forces repelled their attacks and inflicted heavy casualties to them," TOLO News quoted Ministry spokesman Rohullah Ahmadzai as saying on Friday night.

Last month the Taliban launched a brazen attack on Lashkargah city, the centre of Helmand province, leaving thousands of people homeless.

Provinces, where the fresh spate of violence reported, are Uruzgan, Badghis, Badakhshan, Baghlan, Balkh, Paktia, Takhar, Jawzjan, Khost, Zabul, Sar-e-Pul, Ghazni, Ghor, Faryab, Farah, Kabul, Kapisa, Kunduz, Kandahar, Kunar, Laghman, Logar, Maidan Wardak, Logar, Nangarhar, Nuristan, Nimroz, Herat and Helmand.

The US in a report this week said that the level of violence has continued to remain high despite the peace efforts, which was officially launched in Doha on September 12.

According to the report, 2,117 civilians were killed in conflicts and attacks in Afghanistan over the last nine months.

In the latest incident, the Taliban attacked security outposts in the province of Kunduz on Thursday evening, killing at least one security force member and injuring three others.

(With inputs from IANS)