Taliban attack in eastern Afghanistan leaves 18 dead

KABUL, Afghanistan 

Hundreds of Taliban fighters have launched a series of attacks on military checkpoints and other targets in eastern Afghanistan.

Fifteen Afghan soldiers and three militants were killed in a raid on checkpoints in the districts of Manogai and Chapa Dara early on Saturday, the governor of Kunar province, Shuja ul-Mulk Jalala, told Anadolu Agency.

 Taliban spokesman Zabiullah Mujahid said nine soldiers were killed in the fighting.

In northern Jowzjan and Faryab provinces, eight Afghans were killed in Taliban attacks on police stations, local police said.

In Faryab's Shirin Tagab district, a police officer helped militants who raided the station's arms supplies, said district governor Luqman Gaharyak.

Provincial police chief Zalmai Oryakhil told Anadolu Agency that, in the Jani Khil district of Paktia province, “around 40 militants raided district headquarters at 06:00 am local time, triggering a gun battle which left three insurgents - including Taliban commander Mullah Ahsan - dead".

“During the clash, which lasted for four hours, no security personnel were hurt,” he added.

- Ammunition seized

A group of militants also stormed security checkpoints in Ganda Gul area of Manogai district in eastern Kunar province, leaving five militants dead and injuring 15 others.

Kunar police chief Abdul Habib Sayed Khili told AA: “A big group of Taliban insurgents attacked police checkpoints in the Ganda Gul area of Manogai district at 04:00 am local time ... and police retaliated.

"Five rebels - including their commander Haji Nadimullah - were killed and 15 others injured. Two police officers were injured."

Zabihullah Mujahid, who described himself as a Taliban spokesman, told AA by phone from an undisclosed location that Taliban fighters had taken control of two police check posts following the attack, in which 11 police officers were killed and eight others injured.

He said a large amount of munitions and weapons had been seized and two Taliban members had died in the raid.

 Meanwhile, the Afghan interior ministry said in a statement on Saturday that 25 militants had been killed during a series of operations across the country over 24 hours.

www.aa.com.t/en