DUSHANBE, April 13, 2015, Asia-Plus – According to Radio Liberty’s Radio Free Afghanistan, police say Afghan security forces have killed at least 18 Taliban militants, including foreign fighters in the northeastern province of Badakhshan.
Speaking in the early evening of April 10, district police chief Gul Muhammad Baydar said “intense fighting is still going” in Badakhshan”s Jurm district.
Baydar said fighting began when Taliban militants attacked security outposts in the district”s Dara-e Khistak village in the early morning.
“Reinforcements backed by aircraft were quickly sent to support security forces,” Baydar said.
Two soldiers were killed and seven injured in fighting, he added.
Baydar said one of the dead militants was a Tajik national. There are some 100 foreign militants and their family members living in Jurm, Baydar said, adding that most of them are Chechens, Uzbeks, and Tajiks.
Afghan security forces are reportedly alone in battling the militants following the withdrawal of foreign combat troops last year.
The new NATO-led mission, Resolute Support – launched on January 1 — is focused on training the Afghan security forces.
The mission involves some 12,000 troops, including 9,800 U.S. soldiers.
