Just weeks after a military operation reportedly cleared the Dande Ghori district in Baghlan province of the Taliban, residents claim the insurgents have returned.
According to them, clashes have resumed between Afghan security forces and the insurgents.
They say Taliban insurgents are preventing farmers in the area from working their land and that a number of residents have fled the area.
One Dande Ghori resident, Mir Dad, said: “Last night Taliban forced their way into our house and made us leave our home. The Taliban told people not to farm their land because they are fighting government forces in those areas.”
Another resident, Farid, said: “The Taliban has returned to Mangalha and Chang villages and are walking around.”
One resident claimed members of the insurgent group assaulted him.
“The Taliban fired at me and while they were taking me with them they beat me on the way, but I didn’t have the courage to ask them why they were beating me,” said Daoud, another resident.
Baghlan police on Thursday confirmed the re-emergence of the Taliban in parts of Dande Ghori but said the Khorshid military operation in the area is ongoing.
“Taliban are active but very weak in some villages of Dande Ghori and therefore the operation will continue until there has been a complete defeat of Taliban in Baghlan province,” said Abdul Rashid Bashir, acting security chief of Baghlan province.http://www.tolonews.com/en/afghanistan/24383-taliban-return-to-dande-ghori-villages-residents
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