The local officials in southern Helmand province are saying that the command and control center of the Taliban group has eliminated in this province.
Provincial governor Gen. Mohammad Yasin said Tuesday the command and control center of the group has been eliminated during the night.
He made the remarks during a press conference also attended by military council officials and added that the night operations kicked off in this province over two month sago.
The activists of Helmand peace march who arrived to Kabul earlier last week have criticized the Taliban group for their silence regarding the peace efforts and the demands they have made for reconciliation.
The Helmand peace march activists issued a statement after the Taliban group failed to respond to their demands regarding peace, despite the group was given three days to respond regarding the ongoing efforts for peace.
The statement further added that the Hemand peace march is an independent movement which has risen from among the people and the activists of the movement walked all the way from Helmand to Kabul, covering almost 700 kilometers, in support of peace.
The Helmand peace march activists have repeatedly shared their demands with the parties involved in the ongoing conflict, the statement, said, adding that their demands were publicly accepted by President Mohammad Ashraf Ghani and subsequently announced the government’s willingness to extend ceasefire for another one month.
The Taliban militants suffered heavy casualties after ambushing a convoy of the Afghan Intelligence, National Directorate of Security (NDS), in western Farah province.
According to a statement released by NDS, the Special Forces of the Directorate were on their way to Helmand when they were ambushed in the vicinity of Farah province.
The statement furhter added that the NDS Special Forces responded to the ambush, leaving at least sixteen militants dead.
The Afghan security forces have killed a suicide bomber before he manage to carry out a deadly attack using a car bomb in southern Helmand province of Afghanistan.
The provincial government media office in a statement said a suicide bomber riding a Toyota Town Ace vehicle packed with explosives was identified before he carry out an attack in Marjah district.
The statement further added that the suicide bomber detonated his explosives after he was identified, leaving only himself dead.
The incident took place at around 11:30 am local time on Monday in the vicinity of Terikh Nawar area of Marjah district, the statement added.
Several Taliban group leaders including the deputy shadow governor and the commander of the Red Unit of the group were killed in the airstrikes in western Herat province of Afghanistan.
The Ministry of Defense spokesman General Dawlat Waziri said the militants were killed in the airstrikes conducted in Khak-e-Safid district of Herat.
He said at least 38 militants including the deputy shadow district governor of the group Mullah Abdul Samad and the Red Unit commander of the Taliban Mullah Lal Haji Bari Jan Sadiq were killed.
Gen. Waziri further added that a total of fourteen militants were also wounded during the airstrikes and several weapons depots were destroyed.
At least 29 people, including soldiers, were wounded in a car bomb explosion in Lashkargah, capital of Helmand province on Monday evening, local officials said on Monday.
Omar Zuwak, the spokesman for the Helmand governor, has said that among those wounded in the blast 12 are security personnel. The blast killed at least one military officer, he said.
In eastern Afghanistan, a bomb loaded on a motorcycle targeted the commander of Afghan Local Police (ALP) Babrai. Ten people were wounded in the explosion that followed. The blast occurred in Sorubi district of the province.
Another ALP commander Darya Khan Talash confirmed that the attack happened while Babrai was riding a motorcycle in Surobi bazar.
“Babrai and three of his guards and six civilians were wounded in the blast,” he said.
The Afghan government has brought changes in the security command of Helmand, a relatively volatile province in southern Afghanistan which witnessed a deadly attack last week, leaving scores of people dead.
The changes in the security command includes appointment of General Ghulam Daud Tarakhel as the commander of the 505th police zone of Helmand and appointment of General Abdul Ghafar Safi as the police chief of Helmand.
Senior deputy interior minister for security General Murad Ali Murad said the changes were made on the recommendations of the ministry of interior and approval of President Mohammad Ashraf Ghani.
Lieutenant Gen. Sher Aziz Kamawal said a group of militants attacked the district governor’s office and set fire to parts of the building.
A group of Taliban militants attacked the district governor’s office in Takhar’s Khwaja Bahawuddin district on Thursday night and set fire to the district building, sources from the province said.
However, the commander of north-eastern police zone, Lieutenant General Sher Aziz Kamawal said in a statement on Friday that a group of militants attacked the district governor’s office and set fire to parts of the building.
Kamawal said the militants were pushed back by security forces after they arrived at the area.
A local commander of the Taliban group was among at least 18 killed during the operations in the strategic Kunduz city.
The Ministry of Defense (MoD) said the Taliban commander Ghulam Safi was killed along with 17 others during the operations conducted in the vicinity of Kunduz city.
The Afghan National Defense and Security Forces (ANDSF) and the Taliban insurgents have suffered casualties in battle for the control of Nawa district in Helmand.
The Taliban militants reportedly captured the control of the district for several hours before the Afghan forces manage to push them back out of the district.
According to reports, the Taliban insurgents had captured the main district administrative compound late on Wednesday night after launching a coordinated attack.
The local officials have not commented regarding the exact number of casualties during the clashes but reports suggest both sides have sustained heavy casualties.
