Afghan government intensifies military pressure on Taliban insurgents

Afghan security forces have obviously intensified military pressure against anti-government militants as up to 39 armed insurgents affiliated to Taliban,  (IS) and other armed groups were killed elsewhere in the conflict-hit country over the past 24 hours, officials said Sunday.

In the latest military crackdown, 11 Taliban fighters including two group commanders have been killed in Andar district of the eastern Ghazni province on Sunday, provincial police chief Aminullah Omarkhil reported.

In talks with Xinhua, Omarkhil confirmed that 11 Taliban militants including two group commanders named Qari Dost and Mullah Mahmoud had been killed and several villages liberated from Taliban clutches in Andar district after police units backed by the army stormed Taliban bastions in the said district.

According to Omarkhil, operations against militants have been going on in the area.

The Interior Ministry has also confirmed the report and in a statement released here, the ministry without mentioning possible casualties of security personnel emphasized that the Taliban insurgents have suffered major setback in Andar district of Ghazni province.

Similar crackdown against Islamic State (IS) group in Achin district of the eastern Nangarhar province, launched a day earlier on Saturday, has killed up to 21 fighters and injured 13 others, the Interior Ministry confirmed in a statement released here on Sunday.

In continuation of crackdown against anti-government militants, the government forces stormed militants' hideouts in Karkar and Cham Qala localities outside Baghlan provincial capital Pul-e-Khumri, 160 km north of Kabul on Saturday, killing seven insurgents over the past 24 hours.

However, Xinhua's reporter at the site as well as locals said that all those killed in Karkar locality had affiliation with Hekmatyar-led Islamic party the Hizb-e-Islami.

According to locals, five more militants loyal to Hizb-e-Islami have surrendered to police in karkar area on Sunday and eventually, the months-long control of Hizb-e-Islami over coalmine in Karkar area ended.

Local analysts believe that increasing military pressure on militants would help government forces to secure upper hands on battleground and ultimately shrink militants' grip.

Source : XINHUA