Badakhshan: Afghan officials say that 5 Pakistani spies who were pretending to be doctors have been arrested. The provincial police chief said that 2 men and a woman were detained in Kisham district, and a woman and a man were arrested in Baharak district. An Afghan pulic health official said that the Pakistanis that were captured had no medical education.
Balkh: Afghan officials said that three army personnel were killed and 18 were injured this morning when a suicide bomber detonated his explosives near an army vehicle in Mazar-e Sharif. The army personnel belonged to the 209 Shaheen Corps. The Taliban have claimed responsibility for the attack.
Baghlan: Afghan army officials said that Taliban militants are sutaining heavy casualities after government offenses in Baghlan-e Markazi district. The officials say that 7 fighters have been killed, and 10 (including a shadow governor) have been wounded. One village, called Mangal, has been cleared of Taliban fighters, added the officials.
Helmand: Government and Taliban fighters are involved in intense battles in Sangin district. Rumors are surfacing that the district may soon fall to the Taliban.
Herat: A police spokesman said that that a man carrying 400 SIM (subscriber identity module) cards was arrested at the airport. He said that the man confessed that he was trying to deliver the cards to the Taliban operating in the Bala Murghab district of Badghis province.
Ghazni: On Monday morning, 3 Taliban militants were reported killed and 6 others wounded in Andar district, according to an Afghan police official. The Taliban had attacked a police patrol along the main highway. No police was reported killed or injured in the clash.
Kabul: Taliban militants said that they bombed an Afghan army helicopter today as it was trying to land close to a military base near the Deh Naw area of Deh Sabz district, killing 18 soldiers. The government has denied this and instead say that the helicopter made an emergency landing in the Deh Sabz district as a result of technical difficulties. The reported explosion was due to a landmine that went off when the helicopter landed. A district police chief said no casualties have been reported.
Khost: Taliban militants (Mansur faction) say they have killed 5 Afghan soldiers and wounded 3 others after staging an attack in the Nadir Shah Kot district early this morning. In the same district, Taliban militants say that 4 other government soldiers were killed due to a landmine going off.
Kunduz: Four hundred businessmen have left the province because of poor security, Afghan officials said today. The businessmen said that people are leaving because of the Taliban threat, and increasing crime. They blamed the government for not doing enough to secure their safety. The businessmen have left for other provinces and even other countries to continue their businesses. According to the Taliban (Mansur faction), on late Sunday night, they ambushed government forces in Dashti Archi; they reported killing 2 soldiers and wounding one. They also reporting waging an attack in the capital, leading to one Afghan government soldier being killed and another being wounded.
Nangarhar: Last night, unknown assailants killed a security guard who had been assigned to protect President Ashraf Ghani in the past, local Nangarhari officials said today. His mother was reported wounded as well when the gunmen entered his home in Behsood district and started shooting. Meanwhile some residents of the Shinwari zone have staged a protest wanting the provincial governor removed. Residents from Batikot, Nazyan, Achkin Kot and Deh Bala districts have joined the protest. They say Provincial Governor Salim Khan Kunduzi is inexperienced, and is busy with private businesses, instead of worrying about the security of the province.
Paktika: An Afghan official said that a suicide attack targeting the district governor (Musa Khan Kharotai) has killed 6 people and wounded 9 others in Yahyakhil district. Musa Khan Kharotai had driven away before the blast had occurred, and therefore was not hurt. The official said that all the victims are civilians.
Finally, Afghanistan’s Defense Ministry announced today that military operations were carried out yesterday (Sunday) in the following districts: Dangam (Kunar), Maiwand (Kandahar), Dehrawood (Uruzgan), Dand-e Ghori (Baghlan), and Marja and Musa Qala (Helmand). A defense official said that a total of 34 Taliban militants and 3 Afghan soldiers were killed in the operations.