Unidentified gunmen opened fire on an army vehicle, a police official said. At least three Afghan National Army (ANA) soldiers were killed and two others were wounded in an attack by unidentified gunmen on their vehicle in Herat province on Wednesday morning, local police officials confirmed.

A commander was among 31 Taliban militants killed during clashes with security forces in various parts of Hesarak district of eastern Nangarhar province, officials said on Monday.

Five security personnel have been killed and eight others wounded as result of a Taliban attack in northwestern Faryab province, local officials said on Tuesday.

Some residents, Provincial Council members and civil society activists, worried about growing insecurity, say 90 percent territory of northwestern Faryab province is under Taliban’s control, a claim spurned by officials.

The police chief on Tuesday claimed that 160 Taliban militants were killed and 52 others wounded in a recent operation in southern Helmand province.

Police on Tuesday said 13 armed groups operated in eastern Kunar province, but none of them were able to capture any security position from Afghan forces.

NATO chief Jen Stoltenberg on Monday said he spoke to President Ashraf Ghani and discussed with him the peace process, saying the western military alliance’s position has not changed and their troops presence in Afghanistan was conditions based.

A number of former military chiefs and members of the Wolesi Jirga (Lower House of Parliament) have said the Taliban are not able to get access to hi-tech drones without the help of neighboring countries.

Abdullah Naji Nazari, a member of the Badakhshan Provincial Council, said Tuesday the Taliban attacked a checkpoint in Pul-e-Soch in Badakhshan’s Jurm district at midnight on Monday.

First Vice President Amrullah Saleh said on Tuesday that various elections will be held across the country in summer, including the long overdue Ghazni parliamentary elections as well as provincial council, district council and municipal elections.