Kabul, Feb 7 (IANS) Afghan security forces have liberated Band-e- Timor area, a Taliban bastion and poppy hub in the southern Kandahar province, after three weeks of heavy operations, media reported Saturday.
“Our security forces after three weeks of operations have entered Band-e-Timor and established government control there after 14 years, forcing Taliban militants to flee,” a senior security official in the province, Sultan Mohammad, told Xinhua news agency.
Located in Maiwand district, the densely populated Band-e-Timor had been a Taliban bastion and centre of poppy production, heroin lab and transit route for smuggling of the drugs abroad.
“A total of 13 Taliban insurgents, including Mullah Shah Wali, the shadowy governor of Band-e-Timor, have been killed and 10 others injured during the operations,” the official said, adding operations would continue till the establishment of law and order in the area.
Commenting on the security forces’ casualties, Sultan Mohammad said one Afghan soldier has been killed.
Three heroin labs and 10 weapons caches have also been discovered and destroyed during the operations, the official further said.
Taliban militants were yet to make any comment.