As many as 116 Taliban militants were killed and 39 others wounded in clashes erupted between the insurgents and Afghan security forces over past 24 hours across 26 provinces, according to the Ministry of Defense (MoD).
The MoD’s claim of inflicting casualties on the Taliban also includes Takhar province in which 43 Afghan security and defense forces were reportedly killed in a Taliban ambush.
The MoD detailed that the provinces where recent violence surged are namely Nangarhar, Kunar, Laghman, Nooristan, Kapisa, Kabul, Maidan Wardak, Ghazni, Logar, Paktia, Paktika, Kandahar, Urozgan, Herat, Farah, Ghor, Badghis, Faryab, Jowzjan, Sar-e-Pul, Samangan, Balkh, Helmand, Nimroz, Kunduz, and Takhar.
The Ministry added that the Afghan forces acted in what it described as an “active defensive mood” – a standby status for security forces to act before being targeted in a planned Taliban attack.
The MoD’s statement, however, did not provide details on casualties of Afghan security forces in the battles against the Taliban insurgents.
This comes in the same day that 43 Afghan forces were killed and more than 30 others wounded in a Taliban ambush in Baharak district of the northern Takhar province, according to a local official.
A surge in Taliban violence intensifies despite the government-led peace delegation and Taliban negotiators are engaged in peace talks in Doha, Qatar.
