By Xinhua,
Kabul : Police in Afghanistan’s northeast Takhar province eliminated a Taliban militia commander, a press release of Interior Ministry issued here Saturday said.
“Mullah Usman was killed when several armed militants under his command raided a police checkpoint in Kalafgan district Friday night,” the press release added.
However, it did not say if any more insurgents or policemen were killed in the clash lasted for one hour.
This is the first time since the fall of Taliban regime nearly seven years ago that the fundamentalist militants engaged police in the relatively peaceful Takhar province.
Mullah Usman whose body is with police in a local hospital, according to the press release, was the most senior Taliban commander in the northeast region of Afghanistan.
Taliban outfit has yet to make any comment.
The extremist group said in the past its loyalists had expanded their activities in the relatively peaceful north and the northeast provinces of Afghanistan.
Meanwhile, the U.S.-led Coalition forces during an operation in eastern Afghan province of Kapisa killed one militant and neutralized several explosive devices on Friday, said the Coalition statement released here on Saturday.
Coalition forces searched several compounds in the Tagab district targeting a militant suspected of facilitating foreign-fighter operations in the area, the statement said.
During the search, Coalition forces engaged and killed the target militant, as well as discovering several rigged explosive devices and grenades which were safely detonated.
Attacks on international troops are on the rise during past weeks when the Taliban militants continue to demonstrate their strength through suicide and roadside bombings.
Escalating insurgency and violent incidents have left more than2,300 people dead since January this year in the war-torn Afghanistan.