LASHKAR GAH (Afghanistan), March 12 (NNN-Xinhua) — A local journalist was seriously wounded following a bomb attack in Lashkar Gah, capital of Afghanistan’s southern province of Helmand on Tuesday, local police said.
“A sticky bomb attached to Nisar Ahmadi’s vehicle was detonated shortly after he arrived at the gate of a local TV station Tuesday morning,” deputy police chief Mohammad Rahim Noorzai told Xinhua.
The injured reporter was shifted to war victims’ surgical hospital in Lashkar Gah and his vehicle was also destroyed after catching fire.
Local reporters said Ahmadi has lost his leg in the explosion.
Reporters frequently come under attack in the militancy-hit country as 20 Afghan journalists and media workers lost their lives in 2018 in separate attacks.
Meanwhile, at least 11 police officers were killed after Taliban militants attacked security checkpoints in Afghanistan’s western province of Badghis overnight, local media Tolo News TV reported on Tuesday.
“Dozens of Taliban fighters armed with guns and heavy weapons stormed police checkpoints in Muqur district, 15 km north of provincial capital Qala-e-Naw Monday night. The clashes left 11 police killed,” Ziaull Haq Firoz Koahi, advisor to government chief executive office and resident of Badghis, was quoted in the report as saying.
He said several militants were also killed and wounded during the clashes which lasted for hours.
The Monday night’s clashes have brought the casualties of security forces to more than 30 in the province, 555 km northwest of Kabul.
On Sunday night, more than 20 army soldiers were killed, 10 wounded and 28 soldiers were captured by Taliban after a large number of militants attacked an army camp in neighboring Bala Murghab district.
The province has been the scene of clashes and fighting for long.
The militants intensified attacks against security forces and staged several coordinated large-scale attacks against Afghan cities and districts since early last year.
The latest clashes came as political negotiations have been continuing between Taliban representatives and a U.S. negotiation team, headed by U.S. Special Representative for Afghan Reconciliation Zalmay Khalilzad. — NNN-XINHUA
