11 killed in clashes after Taliban car bomb attack in Afghanistan’s Samangan
Eleven Afghan security personnel have been killed in clashes with the Taliban militants following a car bombing at a government compound in the northern province of Samangan.
Local officials said the bomb attack was carried out in the provincial capital Aybak close to an office of the National Security Directorate (NDS), the main intelligence agency, on Monday.
Abdul Latif Ibrahimi, the governor of Samangan, confirmed that at least 11 people were killed and 63 others, mostly civilians, were wounded in the explosion and ensuring gunfire.
The governor's spokesman Sediq Azizi said the clashes, which lasted for nearly four hours, ended after security forces shot dead three gunmen.
In recent months, the Taliban have carried out near-daily attacks against Afghan forces.
Officials said at least 19 security personnel were killed In two separate attacks on Sunday.
A group of 12 soldiers and policemen were killed in a seven-hour battle with the Taliban militants who attacked their outpost in the northern province of Kunduz. In the second attack late Sunday in Badakhshan, seven policemen were killed in a similar fighting.
The Taliban claimed both attacks in Kunduz and Badakhshan.
Official data shows that Taliban bombings and other assaults have increased 70 percent since the militant group signed a deal with the United States in February.
Under the agreement, the US will withdraw its forces from Afghanistan, and the Taliban will refrain from attacking international occupying forces.
The militants have made no pledge to avoid attacking Afghan forces and civilians.
The Taliban militants had been refusing to recognize the Afghan government until they reached the deal with the United States on February 29.
The Afghan government was a party neither to the negotiations nor to the deal, but it has been acting in accordance with its terms, including by agreeing to free Taliban prisoners. The militants have not stopped attacking government targets and civilians.
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