Afghanistan

KUNDUZ (Afghanistan), Oct 10 (NNN-Xinhua) – Seven policemen were killed and four others went missing as the Taliban militants attacked a police checkpoint in Khan Abad district of the northern Kunduz province on Saturday, a local official Qudratullah Safi said.

In HERAT, two travellers were killed and 10 others injured as a roadside bomb struck a passenger bus in Afghanistan’s western Herat province on Saturday, provincial police spokesman Abdul Ahad Walizada said.

SARI PUL, Afghanistan, Oct. 6 (Xinhua) -- A total of 150 Taliban militants have given up fighting and handed over their weapons to police in Kohistanat district of Afghanistan's northern Sari Pul province on Monday, said a statement of provincial police released here Tuesday.

A number of commanders including Ahmad Muradi, Khadim Razmunda and Hamid Sadeqi are among the surrendered militants, the statement said.

MEHTARLAM, Afghanistan, Oct. 5 (Xinhua) -- Several people were either killed or wounded after a car bomb blast rattled Mehtarlam city, capital of Afghanistan's eastern Laghman province on Monday, local police confirmed.

"The explosion occurred roughly at 10:00 a.m. local time. The blast targeted the convoy of the provincial governor running along a road. The governor escaped the attack, but pedestrians and policemen guarding the convoy were affected," said a police officer who declined to be named.

KHOST (Afghanistan), Sept 25 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Afghan security forces have killed 65 Taliban militants during an intense battle in eastern Afghanistan, officials said Thursday, as fighting rages between the two sides despite ongoing peace talks.

The latest bloodshed came late Wednesday after the Taliban stormed a military headquarters building in the Wazi Khwa district of Paktika province.

“The fighting lasted several hours and in a retaliatory attack by the Afghan forces, the Taliban suffered heavy casualties,” Paktika police spokesman Shah Mohammad Arian said.

SARI PUL, Afghanistan, Sept. 20 (Xinhua) -- A Taliban key commander identified as Mullah Abdullah was killed in a clash with security forces in northern Sari Pul province on Sunday, provincial government spokesman Zabihullah Amani said.

"The infamous Taliban key commander Mullah Abdullah who was notorious for his brutality lost his life in a clash with government forces in Khamarabad area outside provincial capital Sari Pul city today morning," Amani told Xinhua.

GARDEZ, Afghanistan, Sept. 19 (Xinhua) -- Gunmen shot and killed a deputy provincial council in Gardez city, capital of eastern Paktia province on Saturday morning, the latest in a string of targeted attacks in the country, provincial governor confirmed.

"Deputy to Paktia Provincial Council Ayoub Gharwal was martyred following after gunmen fired on his car near council office in Bland Manzel Ha locality in Gardez this morning," Governor Halim Fidahi told Xinhua.

QALA-E-NAW, Afghanistan, Sept 15 (NNN-AGENCIES) – Taliban militants killed a former Afghan senator and five of his guards, in the country’s western Badghis province yesterday, the acting provincial governor confirmed.

The incident happened when a vehicle carrying Rangeen Mushkwani, a former member of Meshrano Jirga, or upper house of the country’s parliament, was struck by a roadside bomb blast at midday, acting-Governor, Faiz Mohammad Mirzazada, said.

KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — A bombing in the Afghan capital on Wednesday targeted the convoy of the country’s first vice president, killing 10 people and wounding more than a dozen others, including several of the vice president’s bodyguards, the Interior Ministry said.

No one immediately claimed responsibility for the bombing and the Taliban quickly denied they were behind the attack.

First Vice President Amrullah Saleh suffered minor burns in the blast.

KABUL (Reuters) - Afghan negotiators and senior officials will fly to Doha for peace talks with the Taliban after the two sides reached a compromise over the release of prisoners, diplomatic and government sources said.

All but seven of the 5,000 prisoners whose release the Taliban had demanded as a precondition for negotiations have been freed, four government and diplomatic sources told Reuters.

GARDEZ, Sept 1 (NNN-AGENCIES) – At least three Afghan police and three assailants were killed, in a suicide car bomb blast and ensuing gunfight, outside a police camp in Gardez, capital of Afghanistan’s eastern Paktia province today, the provincial governor confirmed.

“Today, roughly at 5:30 a.m., one enemy detonated a car bomb, outside a Public Protection Police Forces camp in Gardez. Two gunmen tried to enter the facility after the explosion, but they were shot and killed by the police at the gate of the building,” Governor, Haleem Fedai, said.