Taliban torch civilian homes in central Afghanistan
The Taliban militants have burned down at least five civilian homes in the central eastern province of Maidan Wardak of Afghanistan, local officials say.
Local Afghan officials said on Tuesday that the arson attacks were carried out by dozens of Taliban militants in Ala Sang area of the troubled province on Monday.
Local residents and witnesses said the militants also severely beat up women who tried to prevent them from torching their homes.
According to Ataullah Khogyani, a spokesman for the governor of Maidan Wardak Province, security forces were called in to assist the villagers against the Taliban raids and restore order to the volatile region.
Sources say the clashes were triggered after the security forces tried to push the militants from of the troubled region.
At least one militant was killed and three others wounded during the encounter. Four Afghan government soldiers also sustained injures during the ensuing gun battles.
Separately, the director of the counter-narcotics department of the eastern province of Nangarhar was injured after his vehicle struck a roadside bomb in Sarach-e-Ali Khan area of Behsoud District on Tuesday.
There has been a major surge in violence across Afghanistan over the past months after the Taliban militants vowed to expand attacks against Afghan and foreign forces as part of the militants’ so-called spring offensive in late April.
Afghan security forces have stepped up attacks against Taliban hideouts across the country in recent months.
The Afghan Defense Ministry said in a statement on Tuesday that armed forces have killed 74 militants during the recent military operations across the country.
According to the statement, the militants were killed in different districts of the provinces of Nangarhar, Zabul, Kabul, Paktia, Urozgan, Kunduz, Helmand and Herat as well as the city of Kandahar.
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