LASHKARGAH - Security forces and Taliban militants clashed in several districts of southern Helmand province, with each side claiming it had inflicted heavy casualties on the other.

Helmand police chief Brig. Nabi Jan Mullakhel told Pajhwok Afghan News that Taliban insurgents mounted attacks on security posts in the Musa Qala district last night at about 2am.

He said the security forces had prior information about the assaults and killed 25 attackers and wounded a dozen more by timely acting.

Some Taliban corpses remained in the area, he said, but did not say if security forces suffered any casualties in the pre-dawn skirmishes.

The same night, Taliban gunmen attacked security posts in the Kajaki district, injuring three Afghan Local Police members, according to Mullakhel. The ensuing clash left six attackers dead and several others wounded, he added.

Meanwhile, Deputy Governor Mohammad Jan Rassoulyar confirmed last night clashes between security forces and insurgents in Musa Qala and Nawzad districts.  However, he said they could not reveal exact information about casualties due to the ongoing peace process. “We don’t want the war which has been imposed on us,” the deputy governor said.

A tribal elder in Musa Qala, Haji Janan, told Pajhwok Afghan News that clashes broke out between security forces and militants last night and stretched into Thursday morning. However, he had no information about casualties.

A Taliban spokesman, Zabihullah Mujahid, claimed the local police suffered heavy casualties during the clashes in Kajaki. Another seven security men were killed in the Nawzad clash, he added, but said nothing about the clashes in Musa Qala.

One fighter was killed in Nawzad, Mujahid said. (Pajhwok)