The Ministry of Defence (MoD) on Saturday claimed security forces killed 50 Taliban militants and injured eight others during operations in Lashkargah, the capital city of southern Helmand, and some districts. The MoD in a statement said the security forces targeted Taliban’s hideouts in the operations in Lashkargah, Garamsir and Nawa districts.

Security officials say Taliban’s shadow governor for northern Faryab province also killed, Taliban deny claim KABUL, Afghanistan Afghan security forces on Saturday claimed killing nearly 300 Taliban insurgents, including the group’s shadow governor for the northern Faryab province bordering Turkmenistan, in fresh counter-terrorism operations.

Residents of Bati Kot district said held a protest on Saturday and closed the Jalalabad-Torkham road to traffic. Four members of the public uprising forces, including their commander, were killed in a clash against the Taliban in Bati Kot district of the province that according to its residents has become vulnerable in terms of security in recent days.

Taliban says they are not in a position to prevent drug smuggling in areas under their influence. Militant groups such as Taliban, al Qaeda and Daesh “are the main backers of drug trafficking” in Afghanistan, the counter-narcotics department of the Ministry of Interior said on Saturday.

Nangarhar residents on Saturday blocked the Jalalabad-Torkham road on Saturday in protest against the increasing levels of insecurity. Following raise of insecurity in Nangarhar resident blocked Jalalabd-Torkham road in Bati Kot district.

Mullah Nazem, Taliban’s designated governor for Faryab was killed in an explosion on Friday night, Faryab police said. Nazem and six others were killed when their own explosive device detonated in Dawlat Abad district, police added.

Abdul Hafiz Mansoor, a member of government’s negotiating team, said on Saturday the Taliban has no plan in place to govern, but their “power-hungry and narrow-minded spirit has not changed.”

Pakistan has asked Afghanistan to allow it trade and commerce access to Central Asia States, a statement from the Ministry of Commerce and Industries (MoCI) said on Tuesday.

Six insurgents, including Daesh’s finance manager, have been captured in eastern Nangarhar province, an official claimed on Wednesday. Attaullah Khogyani, the governor’s spokesman, told Pajhwok Afghan News the Islamic State’s finance chief in Afghanistan, was arrested in Jalalabad.

The Wolesi Jirga on Wednesday rejected next fiscal year’s budget, saying the proposed accounts were marred by serious flaws. The allocation of 13 billion afghanis to one emergency code was not justifiable in the absence of details about how the funds would be spent, legislators argued.