Afghan air force strikes kill 23 Taliban militants

More than two dozen Taliban militants have been killed in airstrikes by the Afghan air force in Afghanistan’s northern province of Faryab near the border with Turkmenistan.

Major Raza Raza, a spokesman for the 209th Shahin Military Corps, said on Saturday that 23 members of the Taliban militant group were killed after Afghan combat helicopters carried out aerial attacks in the Dilbi district of Faryab Province.

He added that a number of foreign militants, including six Pakistanis and one Uzbek citizen, were among those killed in the strikes.

The Taliban, however, have rejected the reports.

Meanwhile, Afghan government forces killed a key Taliban militant commander in the western Herat Province on Saturday.

Herat provincial police chief Abdul Majid Rozi said Hajji Wazir, the Taliban commander in western Afghanistan, was killed during a raid on a house.

Rozi added that the slain Taliban commander was commanding some 500 militants, and his death could be a major setback to the Taliban wreaking havoc in Herat and adjacent provinces.

Afghanistan is gripped by insecurity years after the United States and its allies invaded the country in 2001 as part of Washington’s so-called war on terror. Even though the invasion overthrew the Taliban, many areas across Afghanistan still face violence.

MP/MKA/HJL

Press TV’s website can also be accessed at the following alternate addresses:

www.presstv.co.uk