Kabul: A mortar shell attack killed the chief of staff of the third brigade of the Afghan National Army, Abdul Basir Nuristani, in the north-western province of Badghis, a source told Sputnik on Monday.
"Nuristani was killed by a mortar shell in Badghis province," the source said.
Another security source in the province said that eight other army staffers were injured in the attack.
The Taliban claimed responsibility for the attack.
Meanwhile, airstrikes against terrorists have killed three insurgents and thwarted Taliban terrorists' design to target security checkpoints in Sayed Abad district of the eastern Wardak province, said an army statement released here Monday.
Read:| Afghanistan: 31 killed in suicide bomb attack in Ghazni province
A group of Taliban terrorists was gathered in the Salar area of Sayed Abad district on Sunday night to storm security checkpoints, but the fighting planes in pre-emptive action targeted the gathering and killed three terrorists, forcing the rest to flee, the statement added.
The Taliban preparation to target security checkpoints in the restive district has been foiled, the statement further said.
Taliban militants, who according to security officials have intensified activities, have yet to comment on the report.
In Ghazni province, seven terrorists, including Hamza Waziristani, were killed in an airstrike on Sunday night, Tolo News reported citing the Defence Ministry.
They were accused of plotting Sunday's deadly attack in Ghazni that left 31 dead.
Tolo News quoted Wahidullah Jumazada, spokesman for the provincial governor as saying that a suicide car bomber detonated his explosives close to a public protection unit in Ghazni on Sunday morning. He said the incident had occurred in PD3 of Ghazni.
The death toll of the attack on the public protection unit has risen to 31, with 24 wounded, and the victims are mostly military personnel, Zahirshah Nikmal, head of the local public health department said.
(with Agency inputs)
