BFF-31 11 including 7 security force members killed in Afghan clashes: officials

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BFF-31

AFGHANISTAN-CLASH-KILLING

11 including 7 security force members killed in Afghan clashes: officials

KUNDUZ, Afghanistan, Sept 23, 2020 (BSS/XINHUA) – At least seven security force members and four militants were killed and 14 people wounded in fresh clashes in two Afghan provinces on Tuesday night, a local officials confirmed on Wednesday.

In northern Kunduz province, five security forces and four militants were killed and eight soldiers and four militants wounded after security forces responded to Taliban militants who stormed security checkpoints in two localities in Imam Sahib district, bordering Tajikistan, district chief Mahbubullah Sayyedi told Xinhua.

The clashes ended early Wednesday morning in the district where local villagers claimed militants overrun one national army’s checkpoint following the fighting.

Taliban militants also attacked eastern outskirts of provincial capital Kunduz city, in an effort to consolidate their position along key roads in the area.

Furthermore, two Afghan Local Police officers were killed and others wounded in a similar incident in Pashtum Zarghun district, in the southeastern of Herat city, capital of western Herat province, provincial police spokesman, Jilani Farhad, told Xinhua.

Violence lingers in the war-torn country even as peace talks between an Afghan government delegation and Taliban representatives are being held in Doha, capital of Gulf state of Qatar.

The Taliban militants have been trying to overrun small towns or districts across Afghanistan and consolidate their position amid the talks.

BSS/XINHUA/SSS/1429 hrs