PHOTO: REUTERS
KABUL:
A Tajik or Russian plane bombed Afghanistan's Durqad district in northeastern Takhar province on Sunday after clashes erupted near Tajikistan's border, an Afghan government official said on Monday.
Khalil Asir, spokesperson for Takhar provincial police, said the bombing near the border area started after two Tajik border guards were killed in a clash with the Taliban. Eight Taliban insurgents were killed and six others were wounded, Asir said. The Taliban have confirmed the clash and the subsequent bombing.
The Taliban said on Wednesday it would send senior members to Russia for peace talks on Afghanistan, hours after the Afghan government declined the offer to attend.
Russia has invited several countries, including the United
States, to the Moscow talks in September but Washington and
Afghanistan have said they will not go.
“Our leaders have accepted Russia’s invitation to participate in Russia-led peace talks,” said Taliban spokesperson Zabihullah Mujahid.
Earlier, Afghan President Ashraf Ghani declared a provisional three-month ceasefire with the Taliban in a televised broadcast Sunday, a move welcomed by Washington but yet to receive a reply from the militants themselves.
The announcement followed a bloody week of fighting across Afghanistan which saw the Taliban launch a massive assault against the provincial capital Ghazni.
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