Clash, blast kill 17 militants in Afghanistan

Conflict and bomb blast in the northern Badakhshan and eastern Kunar province have left 17 suspected Taliban militants dead, officers said Saturday.

A total of 10 militants lost their lives during four-day cleanup operations in Tagab district of Badakhshan province concluded on Friday night, according to provincial police spokesman Lal Mohammad Ahmadzai. "The four-day operations involving police and army which covered parts of Tagab district, Badakhshan province was over Friday night during which 10 armed insurgents had been killed, eight injured and seven others arrested," Ahmadzai told reporters on Saturday.

Only one police lost his life during the operations, the officer admitted.

Meantime, Zabihullah Mujahid who claims to speak for the Taliban outfit in contact with media confirmed the clash in Tagab district, saying eight police were killed, a claim utterly rejected by Ahmadzai as groundless.

In another violent incident, seven militants who were busy in bomb making in the eastern Kunar province were killed as the device went off accidently on Friday night, police asserted. "Seven militants including their commander Nurudin were killed as their bomb exploded prematurely," provincial police chief Abdul Habib Sayedkhili told reporters.

He also added that the incident occurred in a house in Dangam district, Kunar province Friday night when the insurgents prepared the bomb to plant on a road with the objective to target military vehicles.

Taliban militants fighting the government have speeded up activities since the NATO-led forces ended their combat mission late in December last year in Afghanistan. Enditem