Taliban's Governor For Maidan Wardak Province In Afghanistan Killed - Defense Ministry

KABUL (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 12th April, 2020) The Taliban's governor for the central Maidan Wardak Province in Afghanistan was killed in an airstrike, the Defense Ministry informs.

"The Taliban's governor Hamza, who was known as Wali Jan, was killed in an airstrike by Afghan forces, along with 5 friends and 8 other Taliban injured," the ministry said in a statement on Saturday.

The Taliban denied the Afghan defense ministry's claims.

"The martyrdom of the governor of the Islamic Emirate for Maidan Wardak is not realistic. I contacted to the governor, he was alive and healthy," Taliban spokesman Mujahid said in a statement.

The ministry of defense did not specify the exact location and time of the airstrike, or the district where it took place.

On Saturday, the Afghan military said that three Taliban militants had been killed and four more suffered injuries after an airstrike in the southern province of Zabul.

According to the Afghan National Army's 205th Corps, Mullah Abrar, a Taliban commander, was among those killed in the airstrike.

Also on Saturday, Afghan National Police officers killed a Taliban commander and two of his associates in a preemptive attack in the country's western province of Farah, a statement from local police said.

Local Council Member Dadullah Qani told Sputnik that the killed Taliban operative Noor Ahmad, who went by the name Osama, was a key figure in the regional branch of the Taliban and had regularly planned and carried out attacks on Afghan forces in the region.

Clashes in Afghanistan continue despite the signing of a peace deal between the Taliban and the US on February 29. The agreement was set to pave the way for the beginning of intra-Afghan talks between the militant group and the government, following a mutual release of prisoners.