Violence engulfs Afghanistan amid peace talks

By Shadi Khan Saif

KABUL, Afghanistan (AA) – At least 100 people were reported killed in fresh fighting, between Afghan government forces and Taliban, in northern provinces of Faryab and Kunduz.

Quoting a member of the Faryab Provincial Council, Sibghatullah Selab, Afghan TV network Tolo News on Sunday, reported that 12 civilians were killed in an airstrikes in Faryab province, bordering Turkmenistan.

Afghan officials, however, claimed that they have killed 47 Taliban insurgents in the fighting. A spokesman for Ministry of Defense, Fawad Aman, rejected the claims of civilian casualties.

In Kunduz, which borders Tajikistan, local TV networks reported that at least 20 Afghan security force members and five civilians, were killed and 80 others, mostly civilians, were wounded.

A statement issued by the Ministry of Interior claimed that 56 Taliban fighters were also killed during the clashes.

Taliban has not commented on their casualties in Kunduz so far.

The Afghan army’s 209 – Shaheen Corps said that 47 Taliban fighters were killed in airstrikes and ground operations in Garziwan district of Faryab province.

The Spokesman of Interior Ministry Nusrat Rahimi, told Anadolu Agency, that the city of Kunduz has been cleared of the insurgents.

Kunduz, once a stronghold of Taliban in the north, briefly fell twice to the group in 2015 and 2016.

The city links many northern provinces to the capital Kabul.

Afghanistan has witnessed a surge in violence, ahead of next month’s presidential elections, which the Taliban insurgents oppose.