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KABUL, Oct. 17 (Xinhua) -- Six armed insurgents have been killed and eight others injured as clash raged up in Wardoj district of the northeastern Badakhshan province on Saturday, a local official said.
"The clash flared up Saturday morning when Taliban militants attacked police checkpoints in Wardoj district and police returned fire, triggering gun battle which lasted for a while during which six militants and a police were killed," Wardoj district governor Dawlat Mohammad Khawar told Xinhua.
Ten more people including two police and eight militants sustained injuries in the firefight, the official added.
Meantime, the official admitted that 14 more police personnel have gone missing, saying the missing police might have been captured by insurgents.
Wardoj has been the scene of Taliban-led militancy over the past couple of months and the insurgents have made inroad in the mountainous district.
In another development, Taliban militants launched offensive to overrun Dawlat Shah district in the eastern Laghman province on Friday but security forces in a sharp reaction supported by air power, repulsed the attack.
"Security forces have foiled a vicious design of the armed militants to occupy Dawlat Shah District of eastern Laghman province on Friday," a statement of defense ministry said Saturday.
The security forces backed by air power targeted the attacking armed oppositions killing nine militants and injuring 13 others in Dawlat Shah district, forcing the insurgents to flee, the statement asserted.
Taliban militants who have intensified activities and captured few districts over the past couple of months have rebuffed the government claims and in online statements claimed the insurgents have killed 12 security personnel in the fight for Wardoj and 11 others in Dawlat Shah districts.
However, security officials have dismissed Taliban claim as unfounded.
Since warring sides in Afghanistan exaggerate the casualties of opponents, it is difficult to get verification from independent sources.
