World

Taliban, gunmen clash in north Afghanistan

By AAP Newswire

Jul 24, 2022

Heavy gunfighting is ongoing between Taliban forces and unknown gunmen in the capital of Afghanistan's northern Baghlan province.

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Local media reported the clashes were raging around the provincial police headquarters in Pul-e-Khumeri city.

The main highway in the city was temporarily closed due to the intensity of the fight.

Videos posted on social media captured the sound of gunfire.

The director of the Taliban's information and culture department in the province, Mustafa Hashimi, told the DPA news agency that a clearance operation had been underway at a suspicious residence near the provincial government offices.

The Taliban's interior ministry spokesman in a statement called the occupants "rebels" - a term the Taliban uses in referring to their opponents, mainly the Islamic State militants and the anti-Taliban National Resistance Front.

A local elder from the area claimed that more than a dozen wounded people were taken to the provincial hospital as fighting spread to several locations.

However, there was no official confirmation as to the number of victims.

The Taliban retook power in August amid the chaotic withdrawal of international forces from the country.