Kabul, September 13: Forty-five Afghan civilians, security forces and militants were killed in a spate of attacks around the war-torn country, including an overnight military raid targeting insurgents in the increasingly violent north, officials said on Saturday.
Taliban attacks have risen steadily over the last three years as have deaths of Afghan civilians caught in the grinding war between the Taliban and US and NATO forces.
Coalition and Afghan forces on Saturday killed 11 militants during an overnight raid in northern Kunduz province, said Abdul Razaq Yaqoubi, the provincial police chief.
The operation targeted Taliban fighters who helped foreign fighters and suicide bombers infiltrate the region, said Capt Elizabeth Mathias, a US military spokeswoman.
In southern Uruzgan province, 14 civilians were killed yesterday when their vehicle hit a roadside bomb in Churra district, the Interior Ministry said.
In neighbouring Kandahar province, another six civilians were killed by an improvised explosive device.
A Taliban ambush, meanwhile, killed six private security guards working for a construction company in the eastern province of Kunar today, said Gen Khalilullah Ziayi, the provincial police chief. Ten guards were wounded, he said.
Also in the east, a suspected militant rocket attack killed three civilians in Sabari district of Khost, while four police were killed in Nangarhar last night when militants attacked a border police checkpoint, said Ahmad Zia Abdulzai, spokesman for the governor.
–Agencies