An Afghan Defense Ministry statement said dozens of Taliban militants were killed and dozens of others wounded in an army operation in the city of Trencot, capital of the southern province of Uruzgan.
The statement added that the operation killed 23 Taliban militants, including a field commander, while 24 others were wounded, but the movement has not commented on the incident so far.
In a related context, Afghan officials said today, Saturday, that eight members of the government forces were killed and nine others wounded in Taliban attacks after midnight on security checkpoints in Paktia province, southeastern Afghanistan.
US withdrawal
on the other hand, the US envoy to Afghanistan Zalmay Khalilzad said that the Taliban respect its commitments that will lead to the withdrawal of US troops from the country, but he stressed that the level of violence violates the spirit of the agreement between the movement and the United States.
And on the Afghan-Afghan peace talks, Khalilzad said that a new date for the talks, which had been scheduled to start on March 10, was being discussed, in accordance with the peace agreement reached by the United States and the Taliban in Doha.
He indicated that he would travel to Afghanistan again soon, to pressure to reduce escalation and reduce violence, and to accelerate the process of releasing prisoners between the Taliban and the Afghan government.
Commitment to the Doha agreement
In a related context, the US Department of Defense (Pentagon) announced on Friday that the reduction of its forces in Afghanistan to 8600 soldiers will be according to the plan established despite the escalation of violence there.
Ministry spokesman Jonathan Hoffman said that his country expects the troop cuts to take place according to the established timetable despite the Afghan government's announcement that it will resume its attacks against the Taliban.
The United States entered into an agreement with the Taliban in the Qatari capital, Doha, last March, setting out the US vision to immediately reduce the forces to 8,600, and to complete the withdrawal of these forces within 14 months.
American sources said that the initial reduction of forces is taking place despite the Taliban attacks against the Afghan government forces due to the American administration's insistence to go ahead with the implementation of the reduction.
The sources pointed out that the withdrawal of more troops from Afghanistan will depend on the extent of commitment of both the Taliban and the Afghan government to the terms of the agreement.