70 militants dead as Afghan forces repulse major attack

By Shadi Khan Saif and Islamuddin Sajid

KABUL, ISLAMABAD (AA) - Afghan security forces have repulsed a major coordinated assault by hundreds of Taliban militants in eastern Nuristan province, killing over 70 militants, officials said Wednesday.

Saeed Momand, spokesman for the governor, told Anadolu Agency that hundreds of militants stormed security check posts in this mountainous province bordering Pakistan a day earlier.

He said the militants were taken on by National Defense and Security Forces (ANDSF) for hours.

The spokesman said that 70 militants were killed while 30 more wounded in the battle.

Shah Wali, administrator of the Barg-i-Matal district, informed four security personnel also died and five others wounded fighting the militants.

The Taliban, on their part, claimed to have killed 20 security personnel in the assault.

Bordering Dir and Chitral districts of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province in Pakistan, Nuristan province of Afghanistan with its thick forest cover has long been used by the militants for sanctuaries and movement between the two countries.

Separately, one of the key commanders of Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) has been killed along with his two other comrades in eastern Afghan province of Nangrahar Tuesday night, Taliban sources told Anadolu Agency.

Commander Nazir Afridi was killed in an air raid by the Afghan Air Force in Nazyan area of Nangrahar province, they confirmed Wednesday.

Afridi was involved in several terrorist attacks including the deadliest 2014 attack on a military-run school in Peshawar city, that left more than 132 students and 8 teachers killed, a security officer, who asked not to be named due to restrictions on talking to the media, told Anadolu Agency.

"Afridi was a close aid of Omar Mansour, the mastermind of the attack on Army Public School in Peshawar and was wanted to Pakistani security agencies in several terrorist attacks," the officer added.

Mansour was killed in US drone strike in eastern Afghanistan in July 2016.