Insurgents kill13 Afghan security forces: Officials

AP photo

Insurgents have killed at least 13 Afghan security forces in separate attacks, officials said yesterday, as the country struggles to contain a long-running Taliban insurgency and combat a growing threat from a local Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) affiliate.

Munir Ahmad Farhad, spokesman for the governor of the northern Balkh province, said a roadside bomb killed nine security forces and wounded several others the night before in the Chimtal district, where they were waging an ongoing operation against the Taliban. He said five insurgents have been killed and dozens wounded.

In a separate incident, ISIL militants attacked the Darzab district headquarters in the Jawzjan province late on April 8, and that gun battles were still underway, said Mohammad Reza Ghafori, spokesman for the provincial governor.

“We have asked for reinforcements as well as air support to battle the ISĞL militants there,” he said.