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Clashes Between Gov’t Forces, Taliban Continue in Ghazni City
The Taliban continued to engage in clashes with security forces after launching a major attack in Ghazni City, a provincial capital on the key highway between Kabul and Kandahar, officials said Friday.
The Taliban stormed into the city at around 02:00 am on Friday from different directions to begin clashes with the Afghan security forces in Ghazni province.
Local residents in Ghazni City said that the activities of most of the telecom companies have been halted as Taliban have taken control of most parts of the city.
Following the deteriorated security situation in the city, media reporters were unable to enter the province and cover the incident. The Afghan Journalists Safety Community said that Taliban have burnt the Ghazni branch of state-run media, RTA, and killed one of its technical staff Mohammad Dawood Jan.
According to reports, the U.S. forces launched airstrike to counter the Taliban assault on Ghazni City, where terrified residents cowered in their homes amid explosions and gunfire as security forces try to beat the insurgents back.
The Defense Ministry said that the Taliban launched the attack from Wardak, Zabul, and Paktika provinces. Officials said the Afghan special forces have retaken control of some parts of Ghazni City, and clashes ongoing in west of the city.
“Last night they [the Taliban] launched offensive attacks on Ghazni City from Paktika, Zabul, and Wardak province,” the Defense Ministry Spokesman Mohammad Radmanish said at a joint press conference in Kabul. He said the security and defense forces were prepared for the attack.
Reports suggest, both sides have suffered heavy casualties in the ongoing attack. The Interior Ministry Deputy Spokesman Nustrat Rahimi said that the Taliban paid heavy death toll in the attack. But he did not disclose the exact numbers.
However, the Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid in a statement said that the multiple attacks were launched overnight in Ghazni. Dozens of Afghan soldiers and police had been killed and large quantities of weapons and equipment had been seized, he said.
The attack came amid growing hopes of talks to end the ongoing war in the country and less than two weeks before the Eid al-Adha festival, when the Afghan government had been considering offering a ceasefire.
Officials at the Ministry of Rural Rehabilitation and Development (MRRD) say 7,000 incomplete projects of the World Bank are at risk of destruction in Afghanistan. They call on the World Bank to resume the work of these projects.
According to them, discussions have been held with the World Bank about these projects, but there has been no result yet.
“7,000 incomplete projects are being destroyed, and if the work is not started, these projects will be destroyed. We ask the World Bank to resume the work of these projects as soon as possible,” said Noorul Hadi Adel, the spokesperson of MRRD.
Meanwhile, members of the private sector also ask international institutions to resume their work in Afghanistan.
According to the officials of this sector, with the start of these projects, job opportunities will be provided for thousands of people in the country.
“These projects create employment for our people and the country will grow a lot,” said Mirwais Hajizadeh, a member of the private sector.
However, economic experts stated if the work of these projects does not start soon, they will be destroyed and the investments made in them will be wasted.
Ten people have been killed and six others injured by floods in Helmand province in the past week, local officials said on Friday.
According to officials, seven of those were members of the same family, and they were killed in Kajaki district last night.
“Most of the people moved from vulnerable areas to high lands and mountains, and thanks Allah the number of casualties is low,” Sher Mohammad Vahdat, the head of information of the Directorate of Information and Culture in Helmand, said adding rescue teams and security forces have been dispatched to help people.
It is said that the telecommunication system has also been disrupted due to the effect of floods in Kajaki district. Floods have also destroyed thousands of acres of agricultural land.
Roza Otunbayeva, the UN Secretary General’s Special Representative for Afghanistan, met with the Indian Foreign Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar in New Delhi and discussed issues related to Afghanistan, it was announced on Thursday.
During the meeting, Otunbayeva thanked India for “its critical humanitarian support and longstanding friendship for the Afghan people” and discussed the importance of regional and international cooperation to address prevailing challenges in Afghanistan, UNAMA said on X.
Jaishankar also said on X that the sides exchanged views on the current situation in Afghanistan.
“Underlined that India has provided wheat, medicines, pesticides and school supplies. Appreciate the role of UN agencies as partners in these endeavors,” he said.
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