Husain Bakhsh Safari (file photo)
Tolo News: Afghan MMA fighter Hussian Bakhsh Safari defeated his Russian rival [via decision], Aktyabrin Yakovlev, in the Eagle Fighting Championship (EFC) in Moscow on Tuesday night. Both opponents fit the 65kg weight class. Click here to read more (external link).
Tolo News: The Ministry of Public Health (MoPH) on Wednesday said that over 100,000 Afghans, among them health workers and members of the security forces, have received COVID-19 vaccinations. Health officials said that Afghanistan has so far received over 900,000 doses of the India-made AstraZeneca vaccine. Click here to read more (external link).
Lavrov
Ariana: Russia Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov is due in Islamabad on Tuesday on a two-day official visit for talks on bilateral and regional matters, with special focus on Afghanistan. According to Pakistan’s Daily Times, Lavrov will lead a 13-member delegation that also includes Russian special envoy for Afghanistan Zamir Kabulov, Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova and several other senior officials. Click here to read more (external link).
Related
Tolo News: The Ministry of Public Health on Tuesday reported 94 new positive cases of COVID-19 out of 1,120 samples tested in the last 24 hours. The ministry reported that the cumulative total of known COVID-19 cases is 56,873, the total number of reported deaths is 2,512, and the total number of recoveries is 51,928. Click here to read more (external link).
Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty
April 5, 2021
Afghan security forces have recaptured a key district from the Taliban in the southern Kandahar Province in an operation that killed and wounded dozens of militants, the Ministry of Defense said on April 5.
Local officials also confirmed that the Arghandab district in the outskirts of the provincial capital, Kandahar City, was retaken from the militants on April 4.
The ministry said in a statement that at least 37 militants were killed and 28 more were wounded in the operation in Arghandab and nearby areas.
According to the statement, the security forces “seized 90 motorbikes” and also destroyed “large amounts of weapons” that belonged to the militants.
Officials said that civilians had also been harmed and some of them were forced to leave their homes during the clashes between the government forces and the militants. But they didn’t provide further details on civilian casualties.
“Arghandab is a populous district. We used high precision to avoid harm to the people,” Sarbuland, a commander of the special forces battalion in Kandahar, told Tolo News agency.
Another army commander, Nazar Ali, was quoted as saying that the Taliban left Arghandab, leaving behind “the bodies of dead militants, and vehicles.”
There was no immediate comment from the Taliban.
Officials in Kandahar say the Taliban had planted mines along roads in Arghandab and it might delay the return of displaced people to their homes.
Based on reporting by Tolo News and Ariana News
Taliban fighters (file photo)
Ariana: The Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction (SIGAR) said in a report that the primary sources of income for the Taliban are narcotics, illicit mining, and other illegal activities. The report also notes that the Taliban now controls all aspects of narcotics production, which likely indicates that their total revenues are even higher. Click here to read more (external link).
Tolo News: The Ministry of Public Health on Monday reported 62 new positive cases of COVID-19 out of 2,035 samples tested in the last 24 hours. The ministry reported that the cumulative total of known COVID-19 cases is 56,779, the total number of reported deaths is 2,512, and the total number of recoveries is 51,902. Click here to read more (external link).
Ariana: Afghan swimmer Fahim Anwari will compete in the Tokyo 2020 Olympics, the Afghanistan National Olympic Committee (ANOC) announced on Monday. This comes after Anwari, who is currently part of the FINA Development program in Kazan city in Russia, set a new record for Afghanistan at the Russia National Swimming Championships over the after swimmer 50m Butterfly style in 28.79 seconds and 50m Breaststroke style in 31.89 seconds over the weekend. Click here to read more (external link).
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