Afghan forces claim to have killed over 50 militants

By Shadi Khan Saif

KABUL, Afghanistan (AA) - Foreign-backed Afghan forces said on Friday they had killed more than 50 militants in multiple operations across the country over the last 24 hours.

Officials said a drone attack in northern Kunduz province on Friday killed eight insurgents, including three foreign militants.

Naseerudin Saadi, district governor of the restive Dasht-e-Archi district, told Anadolu Agency the strike targeted a Taliban military facility.

“There were a number of Taliban and militants from Tajikistan; they were hit [by the drone] as they were preparing landmines,” he claimed.

In the eastern Nangarhar province, up to 15 pro-Daesh rebels were killed on Friday during Afghan forces’ ongoing offensive in the border areas along the Durand Line.

Attaullah Khogyani, the local governor’s spokesman, said in a statement the militants were killed in Achin district in air and ground operations.

Over 100 pro-Daesh militants have reportedly been killed in Nangarhar since the launch of military operations last month.

In the south, up to 25 Taliban fighters are reported dead in Uruzgan province in an air strike late on Thursday.

State-run news agency Bakhtar reported that the Afghan Border Police (ABP) killed five Pakistani militants in eastern Nuristan’s Kamdesh district which lies on the Durand Line with Pakistan.

A day earlier, U.S. Navy Captain Bill Salvin, spokesman for the NATO’s Resolute Support Mission (RSM) in Afghanistan, said a goal had been set to completely eliminate Daesh militants in 2017.

The Taliban said these developments were part of “lies and propaganda” by the Kabul government.

The militants are expected to announce the launch of their 2017 spring offensives against the Afghan government and its backers in few days’ time.