Kabul: Nineteen Taliban terrorists have been killed across Afghanistan, including Mullah Amanullah, the movement's deputy head of the military commission for the Helmand province, the authorities said on Saturday.
"Mullah Amanullah, deputy of the Taliban's military commission for Helmand Prov. was killed with 8 of his fighters, yesterday in an airstrike. #AAF [Afghan Air Force] targeted them in [the Ghazni province's] Nawa district. A large number of their weapons and ammunition were also destroyed," the country's Defense Ministry tweeted.
Meanwhile, the northern Faryab province's police said that 10 Taliban terrorists were killed and five others injured in the province's Qaisar district.
The Taliban have not yet commented on these incidents.
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Local officials on Saturday reported ongoing clashes between the government forces and the Taliban in three southern provinces of Afghanistan, namely Helmand, Kandahar and Uruzgan over the last few days.
Parts of the Arghandab district in Kandahar and Dehraood district in Uruzgan have fallen to the militants, local officials said, adding that the clashes have displaced "thousands" of people, reported TOLO News.
Jan Mohammad Karimi, police chief of Dehraood, said the district will fall to militants if they don't receive help from the government.
"The situation will be out of our control if there isn't an urgent action," said Karimi.
According to TOLO News, the Taliban claims to have captured some areas in their attacks on Arghandab district in Kandahar. Local officials further reported that operations are underway in the district. Also, they reported clashes in Panjwai district in Kandahar.
Kandahar Police Chief Tadin Khan said that at least 70 Taliban fighters have been killed and wounded in clashes with Afghan forces in the province.
Meanwhile, clashes are still ongoing in the PD4 of Lashkargah city in Helmand, where clashes had begun a month ago in which the Taliban had attacked the outskirts of the city as well as parts of Nad Ali and Nawa districts.
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Security officials said their operations continue with a slow pace to protect civilians.
This comes as the Ministry of Interior Affairs on Saturday said the Taliban has conducted at least 2,000 attacks in the last 50 days. The ministry also informed that 261 civilians have been and 602 others have been injured in the same period.
An uptick in violence has been observed in Afghanistan during the ongoing peace talks in Doha.
(with Agency inputs)
