Taliban attempt to overrun Kunduz city foiled, 62 militants killed in northern Afghan region

Afghan security forces have once again thwarted Taliban attempts to capture Kunduz provincial capital Kunduz city, 250 km north of Kabul after inflicting huge casualties to the Taliban fighters, an army spokesman in the northern region Nasratullah Jamshidi said Saturday.

According to Jamshidi, 62 Taliban fighters were killed since Friday elsewhere in northern provinces, 49 of them in Kunduz.

"A total of 49 Taliban rebels have been killed and 53 others injured since Taliban offensive in some districts and around provincial capital Kunduz city on Friday," Jamshidi told Xinhua.

According to Jamshidi, 65 more insurgents were injured in the northern region, 53 of them sustained injuries in Kunduz province.

Taliban militants who captured Kunduz city for few days in last October launched multi-pronged offensive on several districts and around Kunduz provincial capital Kunduz city early Friday.

A total of 13 more militants, according to Jamshidi, were killed and 10 others wounded in Kunduz neighboring Baghlan province over the past 24 hours.

In talks with Xinhua, Jamshidi said that the security forces from the ground and air targeted Taliban positions in Dand-e-Shahabudin and Dand-e-Ghori districts, Baghlan province over the past two days, killing 13 militants and wounding 10 others.

Kunduz provincial police chief Mohammad Qasim Jangalbagh also confirmed Taliban multipronged attacks on Kunduz and in talks with local media contended that more than 150 Taliban militants had been killed and injured since Friday and Taliban's attempt to overrun the provincial capital Kunduz city had been foiled.

The hardliner Taliban group launched its so-called spring offensive on April 12 and since then the militants have conducted series of attacks against government interests in several provinces including Kunduz.

Taliban outfit in an online statement on Saturday confirmed the clash in Kunduz province, claiming that the armed group since kicking off operations in Kunduz city and several districts of Kunduz province on Friday morning have overrun some 50 security checkpoints, besides inflicting huge casualties to the government forces.

Afghan militancy and violent incidents usually get momentum in spring and summer, commonly known as fighting season among Afghans.

Source: Xinhua