20 Taliban militants killed in Helmand airstrikes: military

At least 20 Taliban militants were killed and eight others wounded in airstrikes by the Afghan forces in southern Helmand province, the Afghan military said in a statement on Friday.

The 215th Maiwand Corps stated that the Afghan army conducted ground and air operations on the Taliban gathering in the Nahr-e-Siraj district of the province on Friday morning.

The insurgents were targeted while they were looting a military base in the district, the statement said.

“Unfortunately, several civilians who flocked to the military base alongside the Taliban for looting equipment were also killed and wounded during the strikes,” the statement read.

Meanwhile, Helmand security officials said Friday that the provincial capital Lashkargah city, Nawa districts, and parts of the province that collapsed to the Taliban last month, have been cleared of the Taliban presence.

The Taliban, however, claimed that the Afghan forces have targeted civilians inside a base, which is located in the Yakhchali area in the Nahr-e-Siraj district.

The Taliban has claimed that at least 30 civilians have been killed and 70 more wounded in the air raids.