Taliban kill over 50 security personnel in Afghanistan

In a string of coordinated armed assaults in Afghanistan, the Taliban killed more than 50 security personnel while the government forces killed at least 150 militants, officials and local media confirmed on Monday.

Amruddin Danishjo, member of the Jawzjan provincial council, told Anadolu Agency the Taliban overran a number of security check points in Khamaab district of the province, killing 10 security personnel. The Taliban have also surrounded 50 security personnel in the district center, cutting their supply lines.

A number of former pro-government militants have joined the Taliban in Jawzjan, he added.

According to local Tolo News, the Taliban have created check points on the main highway linking Jawzjan with neighboring Sar-e-Pul province, posing a grim threat to the provincial center.

Zabihullah Amani, governor of Sar-e-Pul, urged the Kabul government to urgently send additional troops to safeguard the province from falling to the Taliban.

Meanwhile, officials in Madian Wardak province confirmed on Monday scores of security personnel were killed in multiple raids on check points by the Taliban in the Daimurad district since Sunday night.

Abdul Waheed, secretary of the provincial council, told Anadolu Agency the security forces pushed Taliban out of the district center after deadly clashes resulting in killings of more than 40 security personnel.

Deadly clashes have also been reported in Kunduz province bordering Tajikistan.

The Ministry of Defense noted in an official statement that 52 Taliban were killed in Maidan Wardak and at least 100 more in Paktia, Baghlan, Uruzgan, Ghazni, Helmand, Farah and Nangarhar provinces following air and ground operations.