Taliban militants fighting Afghan and international troops based in Afghanistan in series of violence since the onset of spring in the war-torn country targeted a construction firm Tuesday killing 17 employees, officials said.
The bloody incident took place in the restive Zabul province in southeastern Afghanistan when the insurgents ambushed the workers in Shinkay district leaving 17 dead on the spot and wounding 16 others.
"It occurred at around 8 a.m. (GMT0330) as a group of Taliban militants ambushed the workers leaving 17 workers dead and 16 others injured in the Shinkay district," Interior ministry spokesman Zamarai Bashari told Xinhua.
All the victims, he added, were local Afghans.
In retaliation, Afghan police and the U.S.-led Coalition forcescame to the spot and engaged with the militants, killing seven insurgents and injuring 12 others, Bashari said.
Meanwhile, Qari Yusuf Ahmadi, the purported Taliban spokesman took responsibility for the attack saying the outfit ambushed the security guards of a foreign road construction company killing 25 guards and damaging eight vehicles.
Tuesday's gruesome incident followed by military operations in the eastern Nuristan province late weekend during which, according to Afghan and NATO sources, dozens of insurgents had been killed while only an Afghan soldier lost his life and eight others sustained injuries.
Conflicts and Taliban-related violence have left more than 350 people dead mostly civilians so far this year in war-torn Afghanistan.
Taliban key military leader Mullah Brother in an audio cassette released to media outlets from undisclosed locations recently vowed to launch their so-called spring offensive dubbed "Abrat" or lesson against Afghan, NATO and the U.S.-led Coalition forces when the weather gets warm.
However, observers are of the view that the so-called spring offensive mostly be in the shape of suicide attack and roadside bombings to destabilize security in the country.
Source:Xinhua
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