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Commander of Taliban Red Unit Abu Yousuf killed by Afghan forces

Commander of Taliban Red Unit Abu Yousuf killed by Afghan forces
October 7, 2019
KABUL (92 News) – The Afghan and US forces killed one of the most senior commanders of the Red Unit of Taliban Mawlavi Edris alias Abu Yousuf in Nangarhar province. According to a statement released by the National Directorate of Security (NDS), the Afghan and US forces coordinated an airstrike which killed Mawlavi Edris alias Abu Yousuf, the commander of the Red Unit of Taliban for Ghazni province. The statement further added that Edris was one of the most prominent commanders of the Red Unit of Taliban who was playing a major role in planning and coordinating suicide attacks and explosions as well as deploying suicide bombers to Kabul. Edris was also involved in planning and coordinating Taliban offensives and guerrilla attacks in Ghazni province, NDS said, adding that the Afghan and US forces killed Edris after intercepting him in Khogyani district of Nangarhar. The Taliban group has not commented in this regard so far. On October 11, at least 11 policemen were killed and over a dozen captured when Taliban fighters stormed their headquarters in northern Afghanistan, officials said. A column of more than 400 Taliban fighters on motorbikes attacked Shortepa district police headquarters in Balkh province in the early hours, triggering a lengthy gunfight, provincial spokesman Munir Farhad told AFP. “Eleven policemen were killed in the attack. The Taliban also suffered heavy losses,” he said. Karim Khan, the Shortepa district chief, told AFP the Taliban had captured 13 other policemen and set the headquarters’ buildings on fire before leaving the area. In a statement, the Taliban claimed responsibility, saying their fighters had overrun the district. The attack comes days after millions of Afghans went to the polls to vote for their next president, despite hundreds of Taliban bombings and small-scale attacks at polling stations. But officials have praised the Afghan security forces for preventing the Taliban from conducting any large-scale attacks.