Incident

Home page

Incident

Afghan Forces Retake Eastern District From Taliban

26 May 2011 03:43 (UTC +04:00)

Baku â€“ APA. Afghan officials say security forces have retaken control of a district in eastern Nuristan province, after pushing Taliban militants back, APA reports quoting â€œThe Voice of Americaâ€.

Nuristan’s governor, Jamaludin Badar, told reporters that the western part of Duab district has been recaptured by Afghan and international troops, after insurgents briefly overran the area.

Afghan forces and Taliban militants had been battling for control in Duab for several hours on Wednesday, with at least three police officers and more than 17 insurgents killed in the fighting.

Afghan and coalition forces were dropped by helicopter into Duab to support local forces battling militants. NATO said the joint force came under fire from insurgents and called in airstrikes, killing 10 Taliban fighters. A NATO spokesman said that despite reports, there was no indication that the district had been overrun by insurgents.

Nuristan is a highly volatile area of eastern Afghanistan, with militants regularly crossing from neighboring Pakistan to carry out attacks inside Afghanistan. The province is one of several areas in the northeast that is secured mainly by local police as opposed to Afghan or foreign troops.

The Taliban recently stepped up attacks against NATO and Afghan troops, civilians and government officials, as part of its spring offensive.

Near the capital, Taliban gunmen killed the headmaster of a Kabul school in an attack late Tuesday in Logar province.

And NATO says separate bomb attacks killed two of its service members. One soldier was killed Wednesday in northern Afghanistan, the other died Tuesday in the south.