189 Taliban killed as Afghan forces intensify air raids

KABUL, Afghanistan

At least 189 Taliban were killed across Afghanistan in the past 24 hours, officials said on Wednesday.

The Defense Ministry said 138 more Taliban were injured, including shadow governor Mullah Abdul Ahad and minister Abdul Rahman, in the ongoing counter-terrorism offensives across the war-ravaged country.

“Thirty-two IEDs (improvised explosive devices) were discovered and defused by Afghan National Army,” it said.

Local officials told Anadolu Agency that 16 of the insurgents were killed in an air raid in Jawzjan province neighboring Turkmenistan, while 47 others in central Zabul province.

According to an army spokesman, an arms depot and secret base of the Taliban was destroyed on the outskirts of Sheberghan, capital city for Jawzjan province.

In Zabul, the army said a Taliban hideout was targeted in the Shah Joy area.

There was no immediate response from the Taliban to these claims. Spokesman Zabihullah Mujahed, however, tweeted that “dozens” of fresh recruits have joined the ranks of the Taliban after passing through a training session.

He also claimed responsibility for the deadly assaults in eastern Logar and western Samangan provinces, killing at least 16 security forces.

Since US President Joe Biden announced an exit plan for the American forces in mid-April, Afghanistan has been witnessing mounting Taliban assaults resulting in fall of over 150 districts, while the Afghan forces have been claiming killing nearly 200 insurgents daily.