At least 63 killed as security forces and militants battle in northeastern Afghanistan

[News_Editor]

At least 63 killed as security forces and militants battle in northeastern Afghanistan

2011-07-06 21:08:33 GMT+7 (ICT)

JALALABAD, AFGHANISTAN (BNO NEWS) -- At least 63 people have died, including security forces and members of the Taliban, during an ongoing battle, which began after a security operation was launched in the northeastern region of Afghanistan, officials said Wednesday.

Since Monday night, Afghan and international forces began an offensive in the village of Kamdish, which is located in the Bashgal Valley in Afghanistan's Nurestan Province, where at least 23 border police and 40 members of the Taliban have been killed during the fighting.

Governor Jamaluddin Badar told Pajhwok Afghan News that fighting continued until Tuesday morning when it came to a stop for several hours, only to restart again later that afternoon.

Among the killed are also 15 Pakistani militants, Badar said, adding that the Taliban had attacked the Gawardish police outposts from the Arondgar and Orsel areas of Pakistan’s Chatral district. The Taliban claimed on Tuesday that it had attacked four police outposts in the Kamdish district, of which some of them were captured.

In the early hours of Wednesday morning, at around 1:30 a.m. local time, security forces launched a new offensive to recover ground and the lost checkposts, Major Shirin Agha, spokesman for the 2nd Ground Division of Silab 201 Army Corps in the eastern zone told the media outlet.

Meanwhile, according to Nuristan police chief Shams-ul-Rahman Nuristani, ongoing fighting had spread into the Gawardish area, which is located about 30 kilometers (18.6 miles) south of the Kamdish district, adding that the Taliban had began setting local residences on fire, forcing locals to flee, and killing six people - four women and two children.

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