Thu 23 July 2020:
The Taliban in Afghanistan on Wednesday claimed an air raid killed 45 people including civilians and Taliban fighters in the western Herat province bordering Iran.
It was unclear how many of the remaining 37 were civilians and how many were members of the Taliban.
Qari Mohammad Yousuf Ahmadi, a Taliban spokesman, said in a statement two air strikes in Herat killed eight civilians and wounded 12. Two local officials confirmed there had been two rounds of air raids.
“Such attacks would compel recently freed prisoners who wish to live normal lives to take up arms once again against the enemy,” said Ahmadi.
A spokesman for United States forces in Afghanistan said they had not taken part in Wednesday’s air strikes.
Jailani Farhad, spokesman for the Herat governor, told Anadolu news agency at least six key Taliban commanders involved in major assaults in Herat were targeted in the air raids. He said the civilian casualties were caused by a land mine blast nearby.
This comes a day after surging clashes between the Afghan forces and Taliban, leaving over 50 people dead on both sides in the southern Kandahar province.
The rejuvenated yet fragile Afghan peace deal hinges on the prisoner exchange. In line with the landmark US-Taliban peace agreement, some 5,000 Taliban prisoners should have been released from government prisons in return for the estimated 1,000 captive security forces in March.
But, according to the National Security Council, the government has released some 4,019 Taliban thus far, while the Taliban have released barely half of the 1,000 hostages they agreed to release.
Last week, the Taliban had warned the government “not to create hurdles” in the peace process.
Violence in the war-torn country continues unabated. The latest figures by the Afghanistan Independent Human Rights Commission suggest that in the first six months of this year, a total of 1,213 civilians have been killed, while 1,744 were injured in 880 incidents.
