Afghan Officials: VP Escapes Taliban Ambush

The Afghan Defense Ministry said in a statement on Thursday that at least 118 Taliban militants were killed and 62 others injured in a series of large-scale security operations carried out in a number of provinces, including Nangarhar, Laghman, Faryab and Helmand, as well as Khak-i-Jabar and Sorubi districts of the capital, Kabul.

Dostum’s armoured vehicle was moving in a convoy along a remote highway in the province of Faryab when 20 militants opened fire, said police chief Subhan Qul, who was in the convoy.

Afghan security forces have killed almost 120 Taliban militants and wounded dozens of others during clean-up operations across the war-torn country over the past 48 hours, Press TV reports.

Yaqubi said one of the dead insurgents was of Uzbek nationality.

Gen Dostum is a former warlord with a strong following among Afghanistan’s Uzbek ethnic minority.

He traded the new suit for a military uniform last month to accompany the army and armed villagers fighting an offensive by the hardliners in his northern heartland.

In March, Afghanistan’s intelligence agency said it had foiled a previous attempt to assassinate Mr Dostum in the northerly Jawzjan province.

Afghan President Ashraf Ghani recently criticized Pakistan for failing to rein in the Taliban and sent a delegation to Islamabad to demand action against the militants, who Kabul says launch attacks on Afghanistan from a base in Pakistan.

Dostum told the senior security officials that he called on the Taliban during his visit to Ghormach to surrender and join the peace process. Earlier a spokesman said eight militants died.