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Afghan militancy, conflicts claim 44 lives in 4 days

04 June 2012 19:43 (UTC +04:00)

Baku-APA. The Taliban-linked militancy and counter-insurgency have claimed the lives of 44 people with majority of them Taliban fighters since the beginning of June in the conflict-ridden Afghanistan, APA reports quoting Xinhua.

In the latest waves of violent incident, two innocent pupils were killed as a roadside bomb targeting military vehicle outside the fortified capital Kabul exploded on Monday, Kabul police said in a press release.

"Two innocent students were martyred as a mine planted by insurgents was detonated by a remote control at 12:30 p.m. local time when a military vehicle was passing the area in Mosahi district," it said.

There were no casualties on the military personnel, it added.

Also on Monday, firefight and air strikes left three Taliban fighters dead and nine others injured including five Afghan soldiers and four non-combatants in Logar province, 60 km south of Kabul.

"A group of Afghan soldiers were on routine patrol in Charkh district this afternoon when the Taliban militants ambushed and injured five soldiers. The soldiers called in NATO-led forces airpower and the aircrafts pounded Taliban positions killing three on the spot," governor of Charkh district Hamayon Farooq told Xinhua.

He said four civilians were also injured in the shooting, without giving more details.

Earlier on Sunday, the Afghan security forces engaged Taliban militants in Paktika province, 155 km south of Kabul, leaving five militants dead, provincial police chief Daulat Khan Zadran said Monday.

"Acting upon intelligence report, the security forces stormed a Taliban hideout in Mullah Kashmir village of Walmamai district late last night killing five militants," Zadran said in a statement.

In a related development, the security forces raided a Taliban hideout in Badakhshan province, 315 km northeast of Kabul, killing eight militants including their commander, on Sunday, spokesman for provincial administration Abdul Marouf Rasikh said.

"The security forces stormed a Taliban hideout in Akhal village of Argo district early Sunday morning, killing eight rebels including their commander Mawlawi Saifudin on the spot," Rasikh told Xinhua.

Afghan Interior Ministry also said in a statement released Sunday morning that the units of national police backed by the army and the NATO-led coalition forces had killed 24 anti- government militants within the last 24 hours.

In the militancy-plagued country, the month of June was also heralded with Taliban attacks as the militants launched heavy suicide bombing against NATO-led forces base in the southeastern Khost province on Friday.

At least four militants were killed Friday when a group of insurgents launched an attack on a NATO operating base in the eastern Afghan province of Khost, the NATO-led forces said in a statement.

Meanwhile, Taliban purported spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid told local media via phone that Taliban carried out coordinated suicide attacks on a U.S. military base in Khost city, killing over a dozen NATO and U.S. soldiers.

Since the beginning of June, NATO-led ISAF has confirmed the killing of two service members in Taliban-linked activities on Saturday and Sunday.

The Taliban outfit often rejects the claims made by officials, claiming the militants have inflicted huge casualties on the security forces.

Militancy has increased in Afghanistan since early May when Taliban outfit announced the launch of spring offensive code named Al-Farooq from May 3. Militancy usually gets impetus in spring and summer commonly known as fighting season in Afghanistan.