Three NATO soldiers injured in Afghan suicide attack
About 77 Taliban militants were killed in army operations since early Saturday, said the Afghan Defense Ministry on Sunday.
“Afghan National Army (ANA) conducted several security operations in Laghman, Ghazni and Helmand provinces over the past 24 hours, killing 77 armed militants and injuring several other militants,” the ministry said in a statement.
The army had also defused 28 roadside bombs and landmines besides seizing weapons and ammunition.
Three ANA soldiers died following separate roadside bombings over the same period, the statement noted.
A surge in attacks has been witnessed in the country since the Taliban launched a yearly rebel offensive against Afghan security forces and nearly 50,000 NATO-led troops stationed in the country in mid-May.
POLICEMAN AMONG 5 DEAD:
Earlier, one policeman and four Taliban fighters were killed and three others wounded during a clash in the Shindand district of western Herat province of Afghanistan on Sunday, an official said.
The gun battle erupted at around 7am when militants mounted an attack on police check post in the district, police spokesman Col Abdul Rauf Ahmadi said. He said militants left behind a car and weapons after the attack was repulsed by police. Civilians escaped unhurt in the firefight while one policeman got injured, he added. Militants have not yet commented on the incident.
SUICIDE ATTACK:
Moreover, three NATO troops have been injured in a suicide car bombing targeting their convoy in eastern Nangarhar province of Afghanistan on Saturday night, local officials said.
Ahmad Zia Abdulzai, a spokesman for the Governor of Nangarhar province, says the attack happened Saturday night in Behsod district after the suicide car bomber targeted a patrol of foreign troops.
There were no civilian and Afghan forces casualties in the attack.
The Taliban claimed responsibility for the attack.
The insurgents have recently escalated their activities in the country as foreign troops withdraw from Afghanistan by the end of 2014 after full hand over of security responsibility to Afghans.
There are around 50,000 foreign troops in Afghanistan. A small number of foreign troops will remain post 2014 to train the Afghan security forces.
