Taliban militants overrun northern district in Afghanistan

Asia-Pacific, News October 28, 2015 , by IRIA No Comments

Taliban insurgents overran a district in one of the northern Afghan provinces hit by a powerful earthquake this week, underlining the security problems that have hampered efforts to get emergency relief to remote mountainous regions.

Officials said fighters seized control of the district capital of Darqand in Takhar province, on the border with Tajikistan in the early hours of Wednesday, continuing a campaign that has intensified across the country this year.

Atiq Haideri, the provincial deputy police chief, said Taliban militants overran Darqad district on Wednesday morning following heavy clashes with Afghan security forces.

He confirmed the withdrawal of all security personnel from Darqad and the district’s fall into Taliban hands, without providing any information on potential casualties among security forces.

“We have retreated tactically. We can retake the town whenever we want,” Haideri claimed.

Tahir Khan, a local resident, said Taliban terrorists captured Darqad without any resistance from Afghan security forces, adding, “Many parts of Darqad are now under Taliban’s control.”

Meanwhile, Taliban spokesman, Zabihullah Mujahid, said the militants have killed a dozen Afghan policemen in the battle for the district. He said two Taliban militants were also killed in the battle for Darqad.

Meanwhile, Afghan army troopers backed by security forces have killed more than 60 Taliban militants and wounded nearly three dozen others in a series of clean-up operations across the strife-torn country over the past 24 hours.

The Afghan Interior Ministry said in a statement on Wednesday that 63 militants were killed and nine others injured in a series of operations carried out in the provinces of Badakhshan, Faryab, Ghazni, Helmand, Herat, Jowzjan, Kandahar, Kapisa, Kunduz, Logar, Maidan Wardak, Nangarhar, Paktia, Takhar, Urozgan and Zabul.

The statement added that eight Taliban members were also arrested during the offensives, without providing any information about potential casualties among soldiers and security forces.

Afghan soldiers also confiscated light and heavy weaponry and defused several rounds of improvised explosive devices (IEDs).