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The Taliban has shot dead at least seven Afghan police officers who were captured by the militant group during fighting in the northern province of Sari Pul, a local official said.
Zabihullah Amani, a spokesman for the provincial governor, said on August 5 that the policemen were captured by the Taliban in the Mirzawalang area in Sayad district.
Amani also said that the Taliban seized control of the Mirzawalang area early on August 5, after two days of intense gunbattles with Afghan security forces.
The spokesman said that 10 Taliban fighters, including two group leaders, were also killed in the battles and four Afghan security officers were wounded.
“We requested reinforcements from the central government. Unfortunately, we couldn’t get any support. That is why the forces lost control of Mirzawalang,” said Amani.
The Taliban has stepped up attacks across the country in recent months, seizing control of three districts in Ghor, Faryab, and Paktika provinces in late July.
However, Afghan security forces repelled multiple attacks by the militants in strategic Gereshk district in southern Helmand Province on August 4, the provincial governor’s office said in a statement.
The militants wanted to destroy a bridge in Gereshk and create a hurdle for the Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India (TAPI) pipeline project, which would pass through the district, but their attack was repelled before reaching their target, the statement said.
Copyright (c) 2015. RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave NW, Ste 400, Washington DC 20036.