Kabul [Afghanistan], August 9 (ANI): Massive fighting between the Afghan forces and the Taliban terrorists is underway in the country’s northern provinces of Balkh and Takhar since Sunday night, local media reports said quoting provincial officials.
In Balkh, heavy clashes are underway in the Dehdadi district since Sunday night, sources said. The clashes are close to Balkh capital Mazar-e-Sharif city and Pul-e-Imam Bukhari area. The defense lines will break if reinforcements are not sent to the province, TOLO News reported.

The security forces supported by public uprising forces retook the control of Farkhar and Worsaj districts in Takhar on Sunday after they retreated from the capital city Taluqan. The government and Taliban have not yet confirmed the news, TOLO News added.
The Taliban now controls all the districts of Helmand province and has been fighting the Afghan National Defense and Security Forces in the provincial capital, Lashkargah.
The Taliban‘s aggressive offensive has killed many government forces and innocent civilians. Multiple reports have claimed that the group has been looting innocent civilians after capturing various areas. The terror group’s recent skirmish became aggressive soon after the US troops started leaving war-torn Afghanistan in large numbers under the new peace deal signed between Washington and the Taliban in February last year.

27 children killed, 136 injured in past 72 hours as violence escalates in Afghanistan

At least 27 children have been killed and 136 injured over the past 72 hours as violence escalated in Afghanistan, the United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund (UNICEF) said on Monday.
The UN agency said it is “shocked by the rapid escalation of grave violations against children” in Afghanistan.
“In the last 72 hours, 20 children have been killed and 130 children have been injured in Kandahar province; Two children were killed and three were injured in Khost province; and in Paktia province, five children were killed and three were injured,” UNICEF said.
“The atrocities grow higher by the day,” it added.
“These are not numbers. Each one of these deaths and each case of physical suffering is a personal tragedy. These children are much loved and longed-for daughters and sons, brothers and sisters, cousins and friends. All of them are children whose right to protection, under international humanitarian law, has been disregarded by warring parties,” UNICEF Afghanistan Representative Herve Ludovic De Lys said in a statement.

The statement said that these atrocities are also evidence of the brutal nature and scale of violence in Afghanistan which preys on already vulnerable children.
Recently, the Taliban have increased their attacks against civilians and Afghan defence forces and captured several key districts in Afghanistan.
Expressing concern about reports that children are, increasingly, being recruited into the conflict by armed groups, UNICEF said that many other boys and girls are deeply traumatized as they witness atrocities committed against their families and others in their communities.
“Children should not pay for this worsening conflict with their childhoods. Only a complete end of hostilities can protect Afghanistan‘s children. As long as the conflict rages, children’s right to thrive is compromised; their futures jeopardized, and their contributions to their nation’s prospects diminished,” the statement said.
“All children, including children with disabilities, need protection and peace now. UNICEF calls on all those engaged in mediation efforts to uphold the warring parties to their international obligations to children, it added.

Afghan government decides to arm civilian militias amid increase in Taliban offensives

Afghanistan government on Monday decided to provide civilian militias with arms and ammunition amid increasing offensives by the Taliban.
The decision follows the meeting of President Ashraf Ghani with prominent Afghan leaders to discuss the current situation in the country, Sputnik reported.
“In this meeting, a decision was made on supporting the security forces, to safeguard and keep the Republic, and on the cohesion, strengthening and rapid equipping of the public uprisings against the enemy’s attacks,” the Presidential office said in a statement.

Meanwhile, massive fighting between the Afghan forces and the Taliban terrorists is underway in the country’s northern provinces of Balkh and Takhar since Sunday night, local media reports said quoting provincial officials.
The security forces supported by public uprising forces retook the control of Farkhar and Worsaj districts in Takhar on Sunday after they retreated from the capital city Taluqan.
The Taliban now controls all the districts of Helmand province and has been fighting the Afghan National Defense and Security Forces in the provincial capital, Lashkargah.
The Taliban’s aggressive offensive has killed many government forces and innocent civilians. Multiple reports have claimed that the group has been looting innocent civilians after capturing various areas.
The terror group’s recent skirmish became aggressive soon after the US troops started leaving war-torn Afghanistan in large numbers under the new peace deal signed between Washington and the Taliban in February last year. (ANI)

Over 570 Taliban terrorists killed in Afghanistan in past 24 hours

Kabul [Afghanistan], August 9 (ANI/Sputnik): The Afghan government forces have eliminated over 570 terrorists of the Taliban (a terrorist group, banned in Russia) in the past 24 hours, the defense ministry said on Monday.
“579 #Taliban terrorists were killed and 161 others were wounded as a result of #ANDSF operations in Nangarhar, Khost, Logar, Paktia, Kandahar, Herat, Farah, Jowzjan, Samangan, Helmand, Takhar, Kunduz & Panjshir provinces during the last 24 hours,” the Afghan ministry wrote on Twitter.

The hostilities between the Afghan government and the Taliban have intensified as foreign troops began withdrawing from the country. The Taliban have since captured large rural territories and launched an offensive on cities. According to the UN assistance mission in the country, the number of Afghans killed or injured in the first half of the year has hit a record 5,183, with a particularly sharp rise recorded in May. (ANI/Sputnik)