At least 11 security force members were killed in Taliban attacks in Kunduz and Helmand provinces on Thursday evening, according to security sources.

Taliban attacked security outposts in Ali Abad district in the northern province of Kunduz on Thursday evening, a security source said, adding that eight security force members, including four policemen and four army soldiers, were killed.

The source said that five army soldiers and two policemen were wounded in the attack. Four other forces were taken hostage by the Taliban, the source said.

Taliban claimed responsibility for the attack by posting photos from the hostages.

The group attacked two areas in Helmand on Thursday night: the Helmand highway and Nahri Saraj district, according to provincial governor�s spokesman Omar Zwak.

Zwak said that three security force members were killed and three others were wounded in the Taliban attacks in the province. However, a security source said that at least 10 soldiers were killed in the attacks.

The Taliban also attacked security an outpost of Afghan forces in Mazar-Shibirghan highway in Alamkhil area of Balkh province, the district governor of Balkh Gul Mohammad Nasiri said.

Nasiri said the government forces suffered casualties in the attack but added that exact figure on the casualties is not available.

Meanwhile, the Ministry of Interior Affairs in a statement said that 23 Taliban members were killed and 13 others were wounded in a clash with security forces in Qaisar district, Faryab province, on Thursday.

The rise in violence comes amidst peace efforts by the Afghan government and the ongoing negotiations in Doha.

US Special Representative for Afghanistan Reconciliation Zalmay Khalilzad and General Scott Miller, commander of US and NATO forces in Afghanistan, visited Islamabad on Thursday, where they met with Pakistan�s Chief of Army Staff General Qamar Javed Bajwa.

Khalilzad, Miller, and Bajwa affirmed the need for a significant reduction in violence in Afghanistan as peace negotiations between the two sides move forward, according to a statement by US embassy in Islamabad.

LINK: https://www.ansarpress.com/english/20747

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