More than 50 Taliban Fighters Killed in Kunduz: Afghan Official

More than 50 Taliban militants were killed on Friday after the Taliban launched a major offensive in Kunduz.

A member of Taliban. (Photo: Reuters)

More than 50 Taliban militants were killed on Friday after the Taliban launched a major offensive in the northern province of Kunduz, an Afghan official said.

Abdul Wasay Basil, spokesman for the provincial governor, said that more than 60 Taliban fighters were wounded, and that clashes were still ongoing.

Col Ghulam Azrat Karimi, spokesman for the Afghan Army in Kunduz province, said Taliban fighters began attacking Afghan security forces early Friday morning.

General Mohammad Qasim Jangalbagh, the Kunduz provincial police chief, said 40 Taliban fighters were killed and eight wounded. Four members of the Afghan security forces were killed and six wounded in the battles, Jangalbagh said.

Elsewhere in Afghanistan, the NDS national intelligence service issued a statement Friday claiming that a senior Taliban official had been captured. The statement claimed that Qari Youssef, the Taliban’s shadow governor for Ghazni province, was captured on Tuesday while dressed in women’s clothing to avoid arrest.