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KABUL: The government forces have “tactically” pulled back from the Behsood district in Wardak province, provincial officials confirmed, after bloody clashes with the residents that left a number of people killed and injured.
Abdul Rahman Tareq, provincial governor claimed that gunmen loyal to a local militia commander Abdul Ghani Alipur attacked the government forces several times before they pulled back.
“There was a slight clash after which the security forces pulled back and we don’t have contact with the district,” Tareq said Wednesday.
“Only 10 out of 80 forces were in the district’s center who came under repeated attacks for three consecutive nights. Our forces needed to leave the area as they didn’t receive reinforcement,” said Abdul Rahman Tawfiq, district governor. He added that three government forces were slightly injured in the attacks.
The Resistance Front, a militia group led by Alipur rejected government’s allegations.
“We are not aware why and how the government forces left the area and we don’t know how the center of the district fell,” Mohammad Hossain Tawana, spokesman of the Resistance Front said.
Nine people were killed and 16 injured in clashes between government forces and Behsood residents. The residents accuse government forces of opening fire at the civilians who had gathered for a peaceful demonstration.
A government team is in Behsood to investigate the incident, but it didn’t comment on the government forces’ pullback.
Vice President Mohammad Sarwar Danesh called for a peaceful solution of the conflict, asking the government team to justly investigate the incident and assess the affected people.
