GHAZNI CITY - Hundreds of Taliban militants launched a coordinated attack on the Waghaz district of southern Ghazni province, officials said on Saturday.
Provincial police spokesman, Fahim Amarkhel, told Pajhwok Afghan News the militants stormed the volatile district with two car suicide bombings on Friday night.
The first explosives-laden car was detonated in the heart of district office complex. A second vehicle did not explode and was still parked inside the building, he said.
A Public Order Police commander was killed and five policemen, including the district police chief, were wounded during the ongoing attack, the spokesman added.
He said six Taliban militants, including a commander, were killed and several others injured. The rebels entered civilian houses and fired mortars from there at the security forces, Amarkhel alleged.
The insurgents gathered in a local mosque before storming the district centre, he said. Reinforcements have arrived and the Taliban have retreated to remote areas.
Deputy police chief, Asadullah Shujayee who arrived in the district, told Pajhwok one of two explosives-packed cars of the Taliban did not explode and was seized by Afghan forces.
He said a team of police engineers would defuse the car later. The fighters had retreated from the area, but they were still firing from remote positions at the district centre, Shujayee said.
A resident of Sher Gudal area, Jan Mohammad, said heavy clashes took place in the district centre on Friday night and sporadic gunfire could still be heard.
Taliban spokesman, Zabihullah Mujahid said they captured the district last night, but lost its control in the morning. He said 11 Afghan soldiers were killed and six others wounded. He also confirmed injuries to three militants. (Pajhwok)