KABUL: An intense gun battle has been taking place over the last two days between Taliban and insurgents affiliated with the militant Islamic State (IS) group in eastern Nangarhar province, a provincial official said on Tuesday.

Attahullah Khogyani, provincial governor’s spokesman, said that hundreds of families have been displaced from villages in Khogyani and Sherzad districts. He said an operation involving air and ground forces was begun to eliminate both insurgent groups from the area.

Six civilians were wounded and there are reports of dozens of casualties among the insurgents, he said. “The local government officials have already started emergency assistance to the internally displaced people, including cash money, tents, food items and non-food items,” Khogynai added.

Sherzad, Khogyani and Hasarak districts in Nangarhar are strategic because they link with neighbouring Logar province as well as Kabul.

In April, the US military used the Massive Ordnance Air Blast bomb, or MOAB, against an IS group tunnel complex carved in the mountains in Nangarhar province.

In a separate attack in eastern Logar province, 11 civilians were wounded after a suicide bomber carried out an attack in Puli Alim, the provincial capital, said Salim Saleh, spokesman for the provincial governor. He said two were in critical condition.

The bomber was on foot and targeted a convoy of the provincial deputy police chief, who was passing by a bazaar. He escaped unharmed, Saleh said.

No one immediately claimed responsibility for the attack in Logar, but Taliban insurgents have stepped up their attacks across the country against Afghan security forces and they are active in the province.

Roadside bomb kills 8

Meanwhile, a roadside bomb planted by the Taliban killed at least eight civilians including three women and a child in Kandahar province on Tuesday, a local official said.

The victims of the blast in Maroof district “were going from Maroof district centre to their village when a newly planted Taliban bomb hit their car”, said Zia Durani, a spokesman for Kandahar police. The southern province of Kandahar has long been a Taliban stronghold.

Durani provided no evidence to support the assertion of Taliban responsibility. The group has not claimed the attack. Roadside bombs have been responsible for about 18 per cent of civilian casualties this year, according to the United Nations.

Nearly 500 people were killed by improvised explosive devices between January and September.

Published in Dawn, November 29th, 2017