This article was originally published by Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty and is reprinted with permission.
At least 22 people, including 15 civilians, have been killed in the past 24 hours in two different incidents in Afghanistan’s north, officials say.
In the province of Kunduz, 15 people, including eight children, were killed and two others wounded when their vehicle hit a roadside mine on November 27.
The victims were traveling to attend a wedding ceremony in Khan Abad district, according to provincial Governor Abdul Jabbar Naeemi.
The official said the mine was planted by the Taliban, which didn’t immediately comment. The region is the scene of regular clashes between Taliban fighters and Afghan forces.
The Taliban attacked the provincial capital, also called Kunduz, in early September, but failed to capture it.
Last month, the United Nationals Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) said it was “gravely concerned about the unprecedented levels of violence harming civilians” in the first nine months of this year.
UNAMA recorded 2,563 deaths and 5,676 injured from January to September.
In the province of Takhar, at least seven security troops were killed and 10 wounded in a militant attack on two military bases, local councilors Mohammad Azam Afzali and Yaqoob Nazari said on November 28.
The officials said that the bases, located in the Darqad district, were not sufficiently fortified.
Security forces recently recaptured Darqad from the Taliban, which had the district under its control for nearly two months.
The officials said the militant group still had a presence in the outskirts of the district.
