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Afghan jets hit Taliban positions in Ghour province

Iran Press TV

Mon Jun 8, 2015 9:29AM

Airstrikes by Afghanistan's jet fighters have killed 25 Taliban militants and injured 13 more in central Ghour province, said the provincial governor.

Seyed Anvar Rahmati added on Monday that the latest aerial attack was carried out against Taliban positions in the town of Pasaband, which also led to the killing of a former Taliban governor identified as Mulla Farooq.

Rahmani further noted that 11 motorcycles belonging to the Taliban militants were also destroyed in the air assaults. He insisted, however, that no civilians were hurt in the aerial attacks.

The development came as US drones conducted two strikes in eastern Afghan provinces of Nangarhar and Khost, killing as many as 51 people, according to accounts reported by local sources and government officials.

While US and Afghan authorities insist that victims were suspected Taliban militants, local residents said the victims were largely civilians.

There has been a major surge of violence in Afghanistan in recent weeks after the Taliban militants vowed to expand their terror campaign against government forces and installations as part of the insurgents' so-called spring offensive.

This is while the militants carried out a major assault in Afghanistan's northeastern Badakhshan province on Saturday in a bid to capture the Yamgan district, with intense battles raging between Afghan security forces and the armed insurgents.

According to local media reports, following heavy clashes the Taliban militants were able to capture Yamgan district, a remote area in the province.

The insurgents also captured more than 10 police stations in the central Afghan province of Uruzgan on Sunday, according to local officials.

Afghanistan has witnessed growing violence and terrorist campaigns carried out by Taliban militants since the US-led military forces invaded the country in 2001 as part of Washington's so-called war on terror.

The offensive toppled the Taliban-led government from power, but insecurity still persists across the country.

MFB/NN/HRB