Clashes with Taliban in northern Afghanistan leaves 23 Afghan troops dead

Clashes between the Afghan army forces and Taliban fighters in the Faryab province in the country's north claimed at least 23 lives on the side of the armed forces, an anonymous security source told the TOLOnews outlet on Thursday.

Kabul [Afghanistan], June 17 (ANI/Sputnik): Clashes between the Afghan army forces and Taliban fighters in the Faryab province in the country's north claimed at least 23 lives on the side of the armed forces, an anonymous security source told the TOLOnews outlet on Thursday. A clearing operation in the Dawlat Abad district launched by the security forces on Wednesday led to heavy hostilities.

"At least 23 commandos were killed and six policemen were wounded in the clashes," the source said, adding that the military relocated from the district center to another area after the unrest. The source also noted that Sohrab Azimi, a retired general, and son of the former spokesman for the defense ministry, was among the deceased.

According to the media outlet, the district center has been taken over by Taliban militants a week ago. Violence continues to rock the South Asian nation despite ongoing peace talks between the Afghan government and representatives of the Taliban in the Qatari capital of Doha. (ANI/Sputnik)

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)