Takhar’s deputy police chief Raz Mohammad Doorandish and nearly 50 security force members were killed in clashes with the Taliban in the province on Tuesday night, local officials said.   

“47 people (security forces members) were killed, and three or four others were wounded,” said Amir Mohammad Khaksar, an MP from Takhar, adding that “the casualties will increase.” 

The fighting began with Taliban attacks on security forces in Masjid-e-Safid village of Baharak district, according to local officials. “The Taliban has also suffered heavy casualties in the clashes but there is no exact information.”  

Baharak is about 15km far from the capital of Takhar. 

Relatives of security force members killed in the fighting have gathered at a hospital in Taloqan, the provincial capital, to receive the bodies of their family members.  

Abdul Qayoum Hairat, head of Takhar's public health department, also confirmed that at least “20 special forces” are among the dead. 

“17 others are dead from among Takhar’s police forces,” he said. 

A security force member who survived the attack said that “the forces clashed for several hours and during this time we called several times for support but did not receive any.” 

Doorandish is also among the dead from Tuesday night’s clashes. He was one of the special forces officers who recently was appointed as the deputy police chief of Takhar. 

“The deputy police chief first was wounded in the fighting and died later,” said Tariq Arian, a spokesman for the Interior Ministry.  

“A number of other security forces were also killed in the fighting,” he added. 

Earlier, a source gave the following numbers:

“Around 60 security force members were sent on an operation in Baharak district to clear the insurgents, but the bodies of 12 of them were wounded while 48 other security forces are still missing,” said a security source said in early hours of Wednesday morning. 

Recently, the clashes have increased in the country.  

The Ministry of Defense on Wednesday in a statement also said that 116 Taliban were killed and 39 others were wounded in the fighting over the past 24 hours in the country. 

The Taliban has not yet commented on the fighting.