Afghanistan: 5 terrorists killed, 3 injured in IED blast in Kunduz

An Improvised Explosive Device (IED) went off prematurely in Afghanistan's northern province of Kunduz on November 10 killing five terrorists and injuring three others. According to the military, the incident occurred at around 8 pm on Sunday while the terrorists were planning to plant the home-made IED in the locality of Haji Mehrab of Ali Abad district. According to the Afghan Army's 217 Pamir Corps, the terrorists wanted to target the security forces. Reportedly, no civilians have been killed or injured during the incident. 

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Roadside explosion kills 8

Earlier this week, an Afghan official said a roadside explosion killed at least eight civilians in northern Baghlan province. The police chief's spokesperson Jawed Basharat has said that six other people have been wounded in the attacks in the Dand Shabuddin area on the outskirts of Puli Khumri which is the provincial capital of Baghlan. the casualties include women and children. It is believed that the area of the explosion is under Taliban control and no group has so far claimed the responsibility for the attack. The Taliban tend to have a strong presence in the area and generally targets Afghan security forces in and around Puli Khumri which results in the killing of a huge number of civilians in the attacks. 

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Civilian casualties have spiked

An Afghan news agency reported that according to a United Nations Assistance Mission report, in just the first nine months of 2019, the organization has documented the death of 2,563 civilians along with 5,676 wounded people which is fairly similar to the count of 2018 however, in the third quarter of this year, there was an unusual spike in civilian casualties with 1,174 deaths and injury of 3,139 which according to the UNAMA, it is the highest number of deaths since it started documentation in 2009.

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There is a 42 percent increase from that of the previous year. In addition to that, the month of July has witnessed the highest number of casualties that have ever been recorded in a single month. According to the UNAMA report, the reason for the increase in a number of victims is because of aerial and search operations that have been taken by the pro-government forces along with insurgent groups. 41 percent of all the casualties that have occurred in this month are women and children.

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(With ANI inputs)