MAZAR-I-SHARIF, Afghanistan
The death toll from Sunday's clashes between Afghan security forces and Taliban insurgents has reached 28 after fresh fighting reported in the northern provinces of Badakhshan and Sar-e Pol.
Sixteen militants were killed during a 12-hour clash erupted after Taliban militants attacked a police center in Vardush district, Ahmad Nawid Furutan, spokesman for Badakhshan governor, told the Anadolu Agency.
A police officer was wounded during the fight, he added.
In Sar-e Pol, provincial police chief Noor Habib Gulbahari said five militants were killed and six others were wounded during clashes. He added that one police officer was also killed.
Earlier in the day, six people were killed during gunbattles between insurgents and security forces in the northern province of Faryab.
Abducted deminers freed
Meanwhile, seven of 11 minesweepers abducted by the Taliban have been freed with the help of local leaders in the eastern province of Ghazni on Sunday, said Mohammad Ali Ahmadi, deputy Ghazni governor.
They were kidnapped by militants on Friday in Qarabagh district of the province.
Coming to prominence in Afghanistan in early 1990s, the Taliban movements have been waging a war against the Afghan and Pakistani governments as well as foreign forces deployed in Afghanistan.
They were virtually in power in Afghanistan from the mid-1990s to 2001, when a U.S.-led invasion toppled them. Following several years of decline, the group has resurfaced as a formidable center of insurgency against NATO-backed foreign troops and the government in Kabul.
Afghanistan security forces have launched a large-scale operation to combat the insurgency.
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