KABUL, Nov. 9 (Xinhua) -- Taliban militants have suffered casualties and lost ground in the northern Baghlan and neighboring Kunduz provinces as the government forces continue to mount pressure on the militant group, officials said Friday.
The armed militant group, in latest setback, has lost 15 fighters besides fleeing from several villages in Dand-e-Ghori area of the northern Baghlan province since Thursday, according to Mohammad Hanif Rezai, an army spokesman in the northern region.
"At least 15 rebels have been killed and six others injured in Dand-e-Ghori area since Thursday evening and the government forces backed by fighting aircrafts continue to strike the enemies," Rezai told Xinhua.
He also claimed that the government control has been re-established in over a dozen villages and the Taliban-held territory is sliming by each passing hour.
Scores of Taliban fighters, according to the official, have been killed since operations were launched in Dand-e-Ghori area just three km outside Baghlan's provincial capital Pul-e-Khumri over the weekend.
Taliban militants who are still in control of parts of Dand-e-Ghori and the neighboring Dand-e-Shahabudin area are yet to make comments on the situation.
Fighting between government forces and the Taliban militants in Qala-e-Zal and the neighboring Dasht-e-Archi districts of northern Kunduz province have left 16 fighters including eight Taliban and eight police personnel dead on Friday, officials said.
Both the government and the Taliban outfit have been trying to gain more grounds amid efforts for Afghan peace talks and ahead of snowfall and chilly winter in the mountainous country, according to Afghan observers.
