Taliban attack on Afghanistan's Darqad district repulsed, 9 killed

A Taliban terrorist attack on Darqad district of the northern Takhar province has been repulsed and the armed group after suffering casualties has fled away, provincial government spokesman Abdul Khalil Asir said Saturday.

"The Taliban insurgents launched a massive offensive to overrun the headquarters of Darqad district at 01:00 am local time today and the security forces retaliated, forcing the insurgents to flee after suffering casualties," Asir told Xinhua.

Asir, however, didn't provide more details.

In the meantime, an army officer, Abdul Razeq, confirmed the fighting and said "eight Taliban terrorists and one soldier were killed and nine others including five soldiers and four insurgents were injured" in the firefight which lasted for a couple of hours.

Taliban's repeated attempts to overrun the strategically important Darqad district have failed over the past couple of years. (/Xinhua)

( With inputs from ANI )