Photo taken on Aug. 9, 2017 shows displaced people in Sari Pul city, Afghanistan. More than 235 Afghan villagers fled their houses and joined displaced relatives in northern Sari Pul province late Tuesday, after militants allow them to leave the village seized earlier, authorities said on Wednesday. (Xinhua/Mohammad Jan Aria)
SARI PUL, Afghanistan, Aug. 9 (Xinhua) -- More than 235 Afghan villagers fled their houses and joined displaced relatives in Sari Pul, city capital of northern Sari Pul province late Tuesday, after militants allow them to leave the village seized earlier, authorities said on Wednesday.
On Thursday, two rival groups of Taliban and the Islamic State (IS) make alliance and jointly attacked Mirza Olang village in Sayyad district, triggering heavy clashes with Afghan Local Police and its allied tribal militiamen.
On Saturday, ALP and local militias abandoned their security posts and the militants overran the mountainous district, killing and beheading dozens of civilians and members of ALP and local militias besides blocking the main road into the valley.
"After mediation of tribal elders and local leaders and efforts by the provincial officials, the militants allowed 235 trapped villagers, including women and children, to leave Mirza Olang, arriving in Sair Pul city late Tuesday," the provincial government said in a statement.
The villagers arrived by small trucks after loge hours of walking on a rough dusty road.
Between 30 to 40 people were massacred by militants on Tuesday in the valley, 30 km out of Sari Pul city, according to provincial sources.
The mountainous province has been the scene of heavy clashes over the past two years.
Presently, more than 600,000 people, according to official data, have been living as Internally Displaced People (IDPs) in Afghanistan. The number of IDPs would further increase due to the ongoing war and insurgency in the country.
