21 Taliban Militants Killed in Maidan Wardak Airstrike

At least 21 Taliban insurgents were killed following an Afghan Special Operations Forces-related airstrike in Maidan Wardak province on Thursday, the command of Special Forces said in a statement.

According to the statement, the airstrike targeted a Taliban meeting which was held for planning to disrupt the upcoming election process.

“The targeted Taliban group was also involved in closure of Kabul-Ghazni route a few days ago,” the statement added.

The Special Forces command noted that seven Taliban local commanders were also attended the meeting.

Meanwhile, Abdul Karim Youresh, the spokesman of Faryab Police declared that a Taliban’s hideout was also targeted by NATO airstrikes in Qalay Wali area of the Ghormach district.

According to Youresh, at least ten Taliban insurgents including a commander named Qari Naser known as Ansar have been killed and three armored vehicles of Taliban equipped with heavy weapons have been destroyed.

This comes as the UN has recently reported that the number of Afghans killed or wounded by air strikes rose 39 per cent in the first nine months of 2018.

That figure accounted for eight percent of overall civilian casualties for the January to September period, which slipped to 8,050 – 2,798 dead and 5,252 injured.