Twenty two security force members have been killed in heavy clashes with the Taliban in two districts of central Ghazni province, members of the provincial council confirmed on Wednesday.
In addition, five other security force members have been wounded.
The clashes started on Tuesday night after dozens of Taliban insurgents attacked Zana Khan and Jaghato districts of the province, a member of the provincial council Hussain Reza Yousufi said.
He claimed that 13 security forces, mostly police, were killed in Zana Khan and nine police were killed in Jaghato, adding that “heavy clashes are still ongoing in the district since last night and the Taliban insurgents have also suffered heavy casualties.”
Police officials have confirmed the clashes in the districts and said that “three policemen were killed, and four others were wounded in Zana Khan district.”
However, the officials did not provide further details about the clashes nor casualties in Jaghato district.
The Taliban has also confirmed the clashes with the government forces in the districts.
Yousufi said that the situation is “worrying”.
The Ghazni attack comes a day after nearly 2,000 Taliban insurgents stormed western Farah province’s capital city early Tuesday.
The insurgents were pushed back early Wednesday after the arrival of reinforcement troops, according to the provincial governor, Basir Salangi.
About 300 insurgents were killed in the day-long attack, Salangi said, adding that “15 army soldiers, 10 policemen and five civilians were killed in the clashes.”
“First 1,000 Taliban insurgents attacked Farah districts on Tuesday and after the first attack over 1,000 other insurgents also joined the attack,” he said.
The Taliban drew the insurgents from Helmand, Herat, Ghor and Zabul provinces to launch the large-scale attack on the city, but security forces defended the city including the National Directorate of Security (NDS) department, police headquarters, and Farah city hospital and pushed them back after reinforcements arrived.
The Taliban only confirmed the death of nine fighters and said in a statement that they pulled out their fighters from the city after taking military equipment.