Afghanistan: Clashes with the Taliban in 12 provinces within a day

The Afghan Ministry of Defense announced the outbreak of clashes between security forces and the “Taliban” movement in 12 provinces during the last 24 hours.

The ministry said in a statement on Tuesday that 361 Taliban militants were killed during the clashes, and 145 others were wounded.

She added that the clashes destroyed many weapons and ammunition belonging to the Taliban, while the latter did not comment on the ministry’s statement until the moment the news was published.

In another context, the International Committee of the Red Cross in Afghanistan announced that 4,042 people were killed in clashes and attacks during the last 10 days.

The Committee expressed its concern about the increase in civilian casualties due to the escalation of violence in various regions, as well as the electricity and water cuts in many cities.

Since last May, violence has escalated in Afghanistan, with the expansion of the Taliban’s influence, coinciding with the start of the last stage of the withdrawal of US forces, which is scheduled to be completed by August 31.

Afghanistan has been suffering a war since 2001, when an international military coalition led by Washington overthrew the Taliban regime because it was linked at the time to al-Qaeda, which adopted the September 11 attacks of the same year in the United States.