Afghan security officials on Saturday said in the past 24 hours the Afghan National Defense and Security Forces (ANDSF), Taliban and Daesh suffered heavy losses in battles in a number of provinces.
According to officials, almost 50 security force members were killed in action in this time in Kunduz, Herat and Sar-e-Pul provinces.
Kunduz officials and provincial council members said Taliban attacked a number of security check posts on Friday just after midnight in Qala-e-Zal district. They said 24 members of the local police and public uprising forces were killed and a few check posts collapsed to the group.
“Twenty four local police and public uprising forces and 23 insurgents were killed in clashes,” Kunduz police spokesman Anamuddin Rahmani said.
“The problems between the local police in Qala-e-Zal district remained unsolved and the enemy of the government used these problems and disagreements (in their attack on security forces),” Amruddin Wali, a member of Kunduz provincial council said.
In the meantime, the Afghan defense ministry said in addition to clashes in Kunduz, Herat and Sar-e-Pul, the Afghan National Army launched operations in eight other provinces against insurgents.
According to the defense ministry, in these operations over 80 Taliban and Daesh militants were killed in the last 24 hours.
The defense ministry also said 17 members of the Afghan National Army were killed in a Taliban attack in Herat’s Shindand district. In Sar-e-Pul, six soldiers were killed, officials confirmed.
The defense ministry said insurgents suffered heavy losses in Ghazni province.
“Forty five insurgents were killed and 27 others wounded in government air strikes and clearing operations in Andar district in Ghazni province,” defense ministry spokesman Mohammad Radmanish said.
The report comes just hours after the Taliban announced a ceasefire for three days over Eid – after President Ashraf Ghani on Thursday announced government would do the same.
In this new fighting season, clashes have increased noticeably in various parts of the country – with casualties among security and defense force members have also risen.