Meanwhile, Taliban attacks on a district in the southern Afghan province of Helmand province killed at least 24 police officers over the past two days, an Afghan official said on Sunday.
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Abdul Majeed Akhonzada, deputy director of the provincial council, said that the fall of Kanashin district “into Taliban hands” means “Taliban are in control of 60 percent of Helmand”.
Afghan security force member take part in a military operation against of Taliban in Helmand province, Afghanistan, July 29, 2016.
The report says that in addition to losing ground to the Taliban, the Afghan National Army has come under pressure from other militant groups, such as the Islamic State group and the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan.
According to the statement released by Afghan military, group commander Hafiz Ghulam was among those killed in the air strikes conducted in Charborjak district, Xinhua news agency reported.
Helmand is Afghanistan’s largest province and is notorious for being a major poppy-producing region.
They want to consolidate the checkpoints, so that there are fewer of them but each one is more heavily-manned and less vulnerable to attack.
Washington, Kabul-The U.S. government’s top watchdog on Afghanistan said in a report on Friday that the Afghan government lost control or influence of almost 5 percent of its territory between January and May, an indication of the challenges its forces are facing.
Foreign guesthouses have been a regular target of insurgent attacks since the Taliban began their war to topple the Kabul government.
A powerful Taliban truck bomb struck a guesthouse popular with foreigners in Kabul early Monday, a security source and local media said, but there were no immediate reports of casualties.
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A 40-year-old man was killed instantly and a 23-year-old man died later of his injuries, Ahmadi said.
