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Afghanistan: Taliban militants kill seven policemen in Paktia

Just Earth News | @justearthnews | 11 Mar 2018

Afghanistan: Taliban militants kill seven policemen in Paktia

Kabul: At least seven policemen were killed as Taliban militants attacked their post in Zurmat district of Afghanistan's southeastern Paktia province on Saturday, media reports said on Sunday.

The attack left one policeman injured.

Militants attacked the police post located in Naik area of the district.

An eighth policeman was injured in the attack on a police post in Naik area of the district late on Saturday night, Zurmat district police chief 2nd Lt. Sayed Mir told Pajhwok Afghan News.

He told the news agency that Taliban had planted landmines on the road to Naik area and staged ambushes at three places.

Mir said the post was captured by the militants.

According to reports, security forces later reached the spot and retook the post from the militants.

Provincial police spokesman Sardar Wali Tabasum told Pajhwok Afghan News that four Taliban rebels were killed and three others were wounded in the attack.

The Taliban, however, did not comment on the issue so far.

Afghanistan has witnessed rise in terrorist attack incidents in recent times.

More than 10,000 civilians have lost their lives or suffered injuries during 2017, according to the latest report by the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) documenting the impact of the armed conflict on civilians in Afghanistan.

“The human cost of this ugly war in Afghanistan – loss of life, destruction and immense suffering – is far too high” said the Secretary-General’s Special Representative for Afghanistan, Tadamichi Yamamoto, during the launch of the latest annual report in Kabul.

The report detailed that in 2017, UNAMA and the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) documented 10,453 civilian casualties – 3,438 killed and 7,015 injured.

The findings show that the majority of civilian casualties resulted from suicide attacks, improvised explosive device, ground engagements, targeted killings, explosive remnants of war and air strikes.