Thaindian News

KANDAHAR, AFGHANISTAN (BNO NEWS) — At least 23 attackers were killed in battles between Afghan security forces and insurgents for a second day on Sunday in the southern Afghan city of Kandahar, the interior ministry said.

Pajhwok Afghan news reported that clashes between insurgents, including those who escaped from a jail in April, and security forces continued until Sunday morning. On April 25, hundreds of prisoners, most of them militants, fled a jail in Kandahar City through a tunnel dug by the fighters.

Interior ministry spokesman, Zamarai Bashari, told a press conference in Kabul that eight militants carried out suicide blasts and another 15 were killed by security forces, while two policemen were also killed. At least 40 people were wounded, including 15 civilians, 12 policemen and 11 intelligence operatives. A doctor said they had received two dead bodies and 46 wounded people, including three women, who later succumbed to their injuries.

At least ten people were injured on Saturday after militants launched a series of attacks on government buildings. Gunmen attacked the governor’s office, a municipality building, and a police compound.

Qari Yousuf Ahmadi, a spokesman for the Taliban, said Saturday’s attacks were part of their spring offensive code named ‘Badar’. He claimed that as many as 116 security forces were killed and that more than 100 fighters took part in the offensive, which aimed to take control of Kandahar city.

Government officials said they had no accurate estimate of how many attackers were involved, but NATO estimated 40 to 60 militants.

Last week, the Taliban announced the start of its spring offensive against coalition forces in Afghanistan, which the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force said would have ‘no lasting impact’. The Badar operations will target military bases, places of gatherings, airbases and military convoys of coalition forces.

The announcement of a spring offensive comes as the U.S.-led war in Afghanistan is about to enter its tenth year. The war began in October 2001 in response to the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks on the United States and aims to defeat the Taliban and other insurgent groups in the country.