Twenty four people including 18 suspected Taliban insurgents have been killed as fighting flared up in Afghanistan's northwest Badghis province, provincial governor Dulbar Jan Arman said Saturday. "Taliban fighters ambushed a unit of national army soldiers in Balamurghab district Friday and troops returned fire leaving 18 Taliban rebels dead," Arman told Xinhua.
Six Afghan soldiers were killed in the firefight lasted for several hours, he added.
Several Taliban insurgents and five Afghan troopers sustained injuries in the conflicts, he added.
Taliban militants have yet to make comment as the hard-line outfits vowed to launch spring offensive and speed up attacks against Afghan and U.S.-led forces based in Afghanistan.
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