The attack erupted as hundreds of Taliban militants armed with guns and heavy weapons, including rocket propelled grenades, attacked Sherzad district while trying to capture the suburban district in the southeast of Nangarhar, provincial government spokesman Attahullah Khogiani told Xinhua news agency.
Four Afghan soldiers and 52 militants were also wounded during the fighting that had lasted for hours, he said.
In neighbouring Laghman province, the militrary retook control of Badpakh district early on Thursday after the Afghan Special Forces launched a cleanup operation late Wednesday night, evicting the militants from the district, according to Fawad Aman, deputy spokesperson of the Defence Ministry.
He wrote on his social media account that details about the liberation of Badpakh will be shared with media soon.
Many Afghan provinces have been on the scene of heavy battles in recent months as Taliban militants have reportedly captured about 200 districts since the start of the withdrawal of US-led troops in May this year.
50 Taliban Militants Surrender In N.Afghanistan
Amid the unabated violence in Afghanistan, at least 50 Taliban militants surrendered in the country's northern province of Jawzjan as fighting raged in the region, a Defence Ministry official said on Thursday.
"Fifty Taliban surrendered to Afghan National Defense and Security Forces (ANDSF) with their weapons and ammunition in Khawja Dokoh district of Jawzjan province," Fawad Aman, deputy spokesperson of the ministry, wrote on twitter.
The official noted that details with photos and a footage of surrendered militants will be shared with the media soon, reports Xinhua news agency.
The Taliban militant group has not made comments on the report so far.
The province has been the scene of heavy clashes and fighting in recent days as militants besieged the provincial capital Shiberghan in an attempt to overrun the city.
The sorties were launched on Saturday in parts of the restive Kaldar and Chamtal districts, leaving 81 insurgents dead and injuring 43 others, reports Xinhua news agency.
A large number of arms and ammunition, as well as over two dozen vehicles and motorbikes of the militants, were also destroyed during the air raids, the statement added.
The Taliban militants have claimed capturing nearly 200 districts since early May across Afghanistan.
Afghan Civilian Casualties Drastically Down Last Week
A media report has revealed that there were 117 Afghan civilian casualties in the past seven days, a drastic difference from the 433 fatalities reported the previous week amid US airstrikes on the Taliban and international calls for a reduction in violence in the war-torn country.
The Pajhwok News report revealed on Saturday that the deaths were reported in the provinces of Kandahar, Jawzjan, Kapisa, Nangarhar, Samangan, Faryab, Balkh and Kunduz.
Besides the casualties, 41 people were also injured in the past seven days.
Afghan government forces and Taliban insurgents also suffered casualties in this, but the Pajhwok News report did not publish the figures as there was no official confirmation from either side.
The Afghan provinces have been the scene of heavy battles between Taliban and security forces since the start of withdrawal of the US-led forces from the war-torn country on May 1.
US President Joe Biden has set a formal end to the US military mission in Afghanistan for August 31, days ahead of his original September 11 deadline.
US Central Command said last week over 95 per cent of the withdrawal has been completed.
More than 2,400 US troops were killed in Afghanistan over the past two decades, with 20,000 wounded, according to the Pentagon.
Estimates show that over 66,000 Afghan troops have been killed, and over 2.7 million people were displaced.
In Jawzjan province, 19 militants were killed and 15 wounded after warplanes targeted Taliban hideouts in Murghab and Hassan Tabbin villages on the outskirts of provincial capital of Shiberghan, Xinhua news agency quoted the Ministry as saying.
Fourteen Taliban militants lost their lives and two others wounded when the air force struck their position on the outskirts of Lashkar Gah, capital of Helmand province, according to the Ministry.
Three vehicles, six motorcycles, two bunkers and a big amount of weapons and ammunition were also destroyed, it added.
While the US and NATO troops have been leaving the Asian country, violence is on the rise.
Taliban Slams US Airstrikes As Breach Of Doha Deal
Meanwhile, the Taliban slammed the US airstrikes in the Afghan provinces of Kandahar and Helmand, as a violation of the Doha agreement.
The airstrikes carried out on Thursday "would lead to consequences", Pajhwok News quoted Zabihullah Mujahid, a Taliban spokesman, as saying in a statement.
"American occupation forces carried out airstrikes in Kandahar and Helmand, causing casualties to civilians and some mujahideen," the Taliban said the statement.
While denouncing the strikes as barbaric, the militant group slammed them as a clear violation of the agreement between the US and the Taliban.
"(President) Ashraf Ghani recently made an announcement that he has planned major operations in the next six months," the statement added.
During the period, the outfit said, responsibility for all military developments would fall on the leaders of the Ghani administration, the report said.
Mujahid said the fighters would defend areas under their control.
The insurgents would not remain in a defensive posture if the government forces insisted on war, he warned.
Under the withdrawal deal between the Taliban and the administration of former US President Donald, all foreign troops were to leave Afghanistan by May 2021.
But in April, President Joe Biden said all US troops would be brought home by September 11, a decision that drew strong criticism from the Taliban.
In Kapisa province, 18 militants were killed and 24 wounded after Afghan Air Force (AAF) conducted airstrikes in support of Afghan National Defense and Security Forces (ANDSF) in the Tagab and Nijrab districts, Xinhua news agency reported citing a Ministry statement as saying.
Among the killed militants were three Taliban's divisional commanders, said the statement.
Meanwhile, 20 Taliban militants were killed and eight others wounded during a cleanup operation conducted by ANDSF on the outskirts of Lashkar Gah, the capital city of Helmand province, according to the statement.
In Balkh province, 15 Taliban militants were killed and six others wounded following an airstrike conducted by the AAF in Kaldar district.
One vehicle belonging to the militants and a large number of weapons and ammunition were destroyed during the latest offensives, the statement said.
The Afghan security forces have recently beefed up security operations against the Taliban militants.
Earlier in the day, 35 militants were killed following a pre-dawn airstrike in surrounding areas of Alishing district of Laghman province, the Ministry said in a statement.
A footage released by the Ministry showed heavily armed militants gathering in a muddy house before launching attacks on security checkpoints in the area, reports Xinhua news agency.
In Logar province, 26 militants were killed in two separate raids on the outskirts of provincial capital Pul-e-Alam and Khoshi district on Monday night, the statement said.
Sixteen militants lost their lives following an airstrike in Hazrat-e-Sultan district of northern Samangan province also on Monday night.
The raids also destroyed a militants' vehicle and huge amount of their weapons and ammunition, the statement said.
The latest airstrikes came as Taliban militants continued their attacks against the government security forces, capturing more than 100 suburban districts in recent weeks.
Acting on a tip-off, warplanes from the Afghan government forces targeted a Taliban gathering outside Kunduz city early Monday, killing 15 insurgents on the spot, spokesman Abdul Hadi Nazari said.
A number of arms and ammunitions of the militants were also destroyed during the raids, Xinhua news agency reported citing the spokesman as saying.
Taliban militants, who have captured five out of nine districts of the beleaguered Kunduz province and have been attempting to occupy the provincial capital Kunduz city, have yet to make comment on the airstrikes.
Fighting has intensified since the start of withdrawal of the US-led forces from Afghanistan on May 1 and the Taliban group has reportedly captured more than 100 districts in the conflict-torn country.
Foreign Troops Will Be At Risk As Occupiers: Taliban
Meanwhile, the Taliban has told the BBC that any foreign troops left in Afghanistan after Nato's September withdrawal deadline will be at risk as occupiers.
It comes amid reports that 1,000 mainly US troops could remain on the ground to protect diplomatic missions and Kabul's international airport.
Nato's 20-year military mission in Afghanistan has all but ended. But violence in the country continues to rise, with the Taliban taking more territory, BBC reported.
Under a deal with the militant group, the US and its Nato allies agreed to withdraw all troops in return for a commitment by the Taliban not to allow al-Qaeda or any other extremist group to operate in the areas they control.
President Joe Biden set a deadline of 11 September - the 20-year anniversary of the 9/11 attacks on the US - for American troops to fully withdraw, but reports suggest the pullout may be complete within days.
As Afghan forces prepare to take charge of security alone, concern is growing for the future of Kabul.
Taliban spokesman Suhail Shaheen said seizing Kabul militarily was "not Taliban policy".
But speaking to the BBC from the group's office in Qatar, he said no foreign forces - including military contractors - should remain in the city after the withdrawal was complete.
"If they leave behind their forces against the Doha agreement then in that case it will be the decision of our leadership how we proceed," Shaheen told the BBC.
"We would react and the final decision is with our leadership," he added.
Diplomats, NGOs and other foreign civilians would not be targeted by the Taliban, he insisted, and no ongoing protection force for them was needed.
"We are against the foreign military forces, not diplomats, NGOs and workers and NGOs functioning and embassies functioning - that is something our people need. We will not pose any threat to them," he said.
Shaheen described last week's withdrawal from Bagram Airfield - once the largest US military base in Afghanistan - as a "historic moment".
But Farzana Kochai, a female MP, said the withdrawal was being carried out irresponsibly.
Afghan government spokesman Razwan Murad told the BBC that the government was ready for talks and a ceasefire and the Taliban should now prove that they were committed to peace.
Shaheen denied that the militant group had played any part in the recent uptick in violence.
He insisted that many districts had fallen to the Taliban through mediation after Afghan soldiers refused to fight.
On Sunday, the Taliban captured another area in southern Kandahar province. The militants say they now control about a quarter of the country's nearly 400 districts.
The Taliban spokesman described the current government as "moribund" and referred to the country as the "Islamic emirate" - an indication that the group envisaged a theocratic basis for governing the country and were unlikely to agree to Afghan government demands for elections.
Afghan President Ashraf Ghani, meanwhile, insists that the country's security forces are fully capable of keeping insurgents at bay, but many believe the withdrawal risks casting the country back into the grip of the Taliban.
In Laghman province, nine militants were killed and 17 wounded after Afghan National Defense and Security Forces (ANDSF) targeted their position in Alishing district on Saturday night, the Ministry said in a statement.
On Saturday afternoon, three civilians were killed and 30 others wounded during fierce clashes in Omarzai, a locality near Mehtarlam, capital of Laghman, reports Xinhua news agency.
In the neighbouring Nangarhar province, 15 Taliban militants were killed and eight wounded after the Afghan Air Force targeted a Taliban hideout in suburban Hisarak district on Saturday, the Ministry added.
The security forces also found and defused four landmines in Nangarhar.
While the US and NATO troops have been leaving the country, violence in the country is on the rise.
Heavy Fight Between Forces, Taliban Rebels Claims 23 Lives In Afghanistan
Earlier on Saturday, heavy fighting between government forces and Taliban rebels broke out in Afghanistan's northern Badakhshan province, killing 20 Taliban militants and three soldiers, an army officer in the province Captain Abdul Razaq.
"A total of 20 Taliban rebels and three soldiers have been killed in Badakhshan over the past 24 hours," Razaq confirmed to local media.
Ten more insurgents and five security personnel had been injured, the officer added.
In the meantime, some locals on the condition of anonymity said that the Taliban fighters had captured the headquarters of Tagab, Kishim, Tashkan and Shahr-e-Buzarg districts of Badakhshan over the past 24 hours, the Xinhua news agency reported.
However, Badakhshan's provincial government spokesman Nik Mohammad Nazari in talks with Xinhua has denied the fall of the districts to the Taliban militants, saying that the fighting has been continuing.
Taliban militants have intensified activities since the start of the pullout of US-led forces from Afghanistan on May 1.
The strike which occurred late monday night in Qushmal village of Firoz Nakhchir suburban district also destroyed five rocket-propelled grenade launchers, two heavy guns, and seven assault rifles, the Ministry said in a statement.
The latest offensive comes as Afghanistan is witnessing an increase in security incidents as the Taliban outfit has intensified their activities since the start of the US-led forces pull out on May 1.
The militant outfit has claimed capturing more than 40 districts over the past one month.
According to Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid, five districts have been overrun by the militant group just over the past one week.
Security officials, without confirming the fall of districts, said "the government forces have made tactical retreat" and would soon launch counter-attacks to regain the districts.
Meanwhile, five civilians were killed and four others wounded as a roadside bomb struck a vehicle in Ahmad Abad district of Afghanistan's Paktia province, an official said blaming a Taliban militant group for the bombing.
"The deadly roadside bombing which targeted a civilian vehicle in Machalgo area of Ahmad Abad district on Monday afternoon claimed five lives comprising a woman, two children and two men and also injured four others. All the victims are civilians," provincial government spokesman Abdul Rahman Mangal told Xinhua news agency.
All the victims were members of the same family who were going to attend a funeral service at a neighbouring village, the official added.
The Taliban outfit, which is active in parts of Paktia province, is yet to make comment.
According to security sources, Khan Abad district in Kunduz was retaken on Monday, while Chah Ab district in Takhar was seized last week, TOLO News reported.
"Over 50 militants were killed in face-to-face fighting and by airstrikes in Khan Abad. Some commanders are also among them," said Kunduz Police Chief Farid Mashal.
However, other districts continue to fall to the Taliban.
On Monday, security forces evacuated the centre of Sayyad district in the northern province of Sar-e-Pul and Oba district in the western province of Herat.
Data collected by TOLO News reveal that centres of at least 30 districts have fallen to the Taliban since the beginning of the official withdrawal of the US and other NATO troops on May 1.
"The root causes of why districts started to fall suddenly should be determined. Some districts were handed over to the Taliban in the west without resistance and their equipment was left for militants," the news outlet quoted Sadiq Qaderi, an MP from Herat, as saying.
First Vice President Amrullah Saleh said that the recent advancements by the Taliban are narrow and this "will soon be changed into a graveyard" for the group.
"Their sequence has no depth or width. Those who are familiar with the fight know that this narrow line will turn into a mass grave for this group of horror and ignorance," Saleh said in a Facebook post.
Meanwhile, Defence Ministry spokesman Rohullah Ahmadzai said there were "areas in districts where we made retreats. New forces were sent, they were equipped and the enemy will soon be removed from there".
At least 40 security force members have been either killed or wounded in clashes over the past 24 hours, but the Defence Ministry said Taliban casualties are higher than those of the government forces.
The Taliban has rejected figures provided by the Ministry.
Fifteen Taliban militants were killed following air raids in Sangin, Nad Ali and Musa Qala districts of Helmand province on Saturday, Presidential Information Coordination Centre was cited as saying by Xinhua news agency.
The Centre's statement did not detail whether the sorties were launched by Afghan Air Force or NATO-led coalition forces.
Helmand province, notorious for poppy growing, is a known Taliban stronghold.
The militant group didn't comment on the report yet.
In the strike that was conducted late on Tuesday acting on an intelligence input, about 30 militants were killed and some 30 injured, Xinhua quoted an Afghan army official as saying.
Armed with small firearms and rocket-propelled grenades, the targeted militants tried to launch a massive attack on the district centre, he said.
Three hijacked military vehicles were also destroyed in the strike, the official added, without mentioning whether the strike was conducted by Afghan Air Force or NATO-led coalition forces.
The Taliban has not made any comments yet.
Early on Wednesday, the anniversary of the 9/11 attack in the US, a powerful explosion occurred near the US embassy in Afghanistan's capital Kabul. No casualties have been reported so far in that incident.
The short statement also noted that a good quantity of arms and ammunitions of the militants were also destroyed during the air raids, the Xinhua news agency reported.
According to the statement, over two dozen militants had also been killed during the clean-up operations in the neighbouring Wardak province on Saturday.
The Taliban outfit has not made a comment yet.
Faizabad: Meanwhile, five militants have been confirmed dead as a clash erupted in Shahr-e-Bazarg district of northern Badakhshan province on Sunday, provincial government spokesman Sanahullah Rohani said.
The clash flared up after a group of Taliban militants attacked the police checkpoints in Shahr-e-Bazarg district early Sunday morning and police returned fire, killing five insurgents and forcing the militants to flee, the official said.
Eight more militants sustained injury in the firefight, Rohani further said without providing more details, the Xinhua news agency reported.
In the meantime, an army officer in province Abdul Razaq confirmed with Xinhua about the fighting and said two security personnel were injured in the gun battle.
Taliban militants are yet to comment on the situation in the relatively troubled district.
In an air strike in Shindand district of Herat province at 9.48 a.m. local time on Sunday, Marwan Bajawori, a Taliban local leader and the militants' weapons and ammunition facilitator, was killed, Xinhua quoted Afghan National Army Special Operations Corps as saying in a statement.
In neighbouring Farah province, two militants were killed and another wounded in an air strike in Asad Jamkai village, Gulistan province at 9.26 p.m. local time Saturday, the statement said.
The targeted militants were planting a landmine along a main road and the strike also destroyed an explosive-packed vehicle at the site, the statement added.
The Afghan security forces have recently beefed up security operations against the Taliban militants, who have been attempting to take territory and consolidate their positions in the countryside ahead of winter.
The strikes were launched late Monday after Operations Command of the Afghan National Army Special Operations Corps (ANASOC) approved the sorties to be conducted on militants' positions in Alishing and neighbouring Alingar districts, Xinhua quoted ANASOC as saying in the statement.
"The army's special forces will spare no effort to intensify attacks against the militants' key figures to eliminate them and kick them out of battle," the statement read.
The sorties also led to the destruction of some of the structures in the target area.
Taliban militants are active in parts of Laghman, 90 km east of the country's capital Kabul.
Fighting rages across Afghanistan as Taliban militants have been attempting to take territory and consolidate their positions ahead of the winter in the mountainous country.
The Taliban militant group has not made comments yet.
The operation, backed by military planes, was conducted over the last two days in the troubled Darqad district of the province, resulting in the death of at least 18 Taliban fighters and injury of 11 others, Xinhua reported citing an Army statement.
The government forces also cleared Norkhil village of the insurgents and destroyed three of their hideouts, during the mop-up, the statement said.
Taliban militants who are in control of parts of the restive Darqad district have not commented yet.
(IANS)
The sorties began on Saturday night in parts of the restive Arghandab district, Xinhua news agency quoted the provincial police spokesman as saying.
Besides killing 82 armed insurgents including Taliban’s key commander Sarhadi, two tanks and several vehicles of the insurgents have also been destroyed, the spokesman said.
Without hinting at possible casualties of the security personnel, he said the clean-up operations backed by warplanes were still continuing in parts of the troubled district.
Taliban militants who are active in parts of Kandahar province are yet to comment on the airstrikes.
Earlier on Saturday, at least 35 Taliban militants were killed and 33 others injured in Afghan Army offensives in Faryab and Baghlan provinces, confirmed the Defence Ministry.
In Faryab, 26 militants were killed and 33 wounded after the Afghan Air Force conducted airstrikes on a Taliban position in Sarchakan village of Gurziwan district, Xinhua news agency quoted the statement as saying.
In Baghlan, nine Taliban militants died after the Afghan National Army launched a special operation in Dand-e-Shahabuddin locality.
The victims included six Taliban divisional commanders, the statement said.
A handful of weapons, ammunition and several vehicles were also destroyed during the offensives, the Ministry added.
The militant group is yet to make comments on the development.