KABUL, Oct. 25 (Xinhua) -- More than two dozen militants and security personnel have been killed for the control of the strategically important Kuran-o-Munjan district in northern Afghanistan's Badakhshan province over the past 24 hours.
Government forces had been fighting to evict the insurgents from the beleaguered district, provincial government spokesman Nik Mohammad Nazari said Thursday.
"A total of 24 insurgents and two security personnel have been killed and 12 others including 10 rebels and two security personnel injured in Kuran-o-Munjan district since Wednesday evening," Nazari told Xinhua.
Taliban militants, according to local officials, launched attacks on some security checkpoints in Kuran-o-Munjan district on Friday night and since then fighting continues between security forces and the militants in the strategically important district.
According to local observers, if the attacking militants were able to overrun Kuran-o-Munjan district, they could easily open their way to the neighboring Nuristan, Kunar and Panjshir provinces to expand their influence.
Taliban control over Kuran-o-Munjan district could facilitate the insurgent group to extend its control over Lapis stone mine in Badakhshan province, local observers say.
Since Taliban attack on Kuran-o-Munjan district on Friday night and launching counter-offensive, according to local officials, about 70 militants and some 10 security personnel have been killed.
Government forces, in a bid to mount pressure on militants in Kuran-o-Munjan district, launched airstrikes on Wednesday, killing at least four insurgents, an army spokesman Mohammad Hanif Rezai said.
Taliban militants who have stepped up attacks to gain more grounds and consolidate positions ahead of chilly winter in the mountainous country, are yet to make comment on the situation.
