Escalating violence: Gun attacks, bombings leave dozens dead in Afghan provinces

Member of High Peace Council critically injured; 14 soldiers and 64 Taliban dead.

KABUL: At least 14 Afghan soldiers and dozens of Taliban fighters were killed in a series of firefights and bombings mainly in the provinces of Wardak and Helmand and elsewhere in the country, defence ministry officials said on Sunday.

One of the attacks left Fazil Ahmad, a key member of Afghanistan’s High Peace Council in Ghazni province, seriously injured. Three of his companions who were travelling with him were also injured when their vehicle hit a roadside bomb, said deputy provincial police chief Asadullah Ensafi. The car’s driver was killed.



The defence ministry announced that the recent fighting had killed 14 Afghan soldiers and 64 Taliban militants.

The 80-member High Peace Council has been tasked by President Hamid Karzai with finding a negotiated settlement with insurgents.

The ministry said the casualties included 10 Taliban fighters killed in a single operation in Wardak province, west of Kabul. Three soldiers were killed in Wardak by artillery fire and roadside bombs.

Seven more soldiers were killed in Helmand province by roadside bombs, and four others were killed in other attacks across the country.

The interior ministry, which controls the country’s police forces, reported another 37 Taliban killed. It announced no police casualties.

The Afghan army and police, which took over security operations from Nato-led coalition forces this year, have lost 927 troops through June, according to an Associated Press count.

Published in The Express Tribune, July 8^th, 2013.