KABUL, Sept. 8 (Xinhua) -- At least 24 militants have been killed in the militancy-battered Afghanistan over the past 24 hours as the warring sides have intensified activities, officials said Sunday.
In the latest showdown, the Taliban fighters overran the district headquarters of Dasht-e-Archi district in the northern Kunduz province in the wee hours of Sunday and the government forces fought back to recapture it, head of provincial council Mohammad Yusuf Ayubi said.
Without hinting at the possible casualties of the warring sides, the official said that the Taliban militants had also attacked security checkpoints in the neighboring Khan Abad and Qala-e-Zal districts.
However, locals said that four civilians were killed after a rocket fired by militants struck a house in Dasht-e-Archi district Sunday morning and injuring a few others.
Similarly, the government forces targeted Taliban hideouts in Charbolak district of the northern Balkh province late on Saturday, killing three insurgents and injuring 10 others, army spokesman in the northern region Mohammad Hanif Rezai said.
The government forces' fighting planes also struck Taliban hideout in Nurkh district of the eastern Wardak province on Saturday afternoon, killing five militants, provincial government spokesman Mohibullah Sharifzai told Xinhua.
In the same way, the security forces' crackdown in parts of the eastern Ghazni province has left 12 militants dead over the past 24 hours, said an army statement released Sunday.
Although, no official has made comment on the casualties of security personnel, both the Taliban and government forces have intensified activities in the war-battered Afghanistan.
