INTERNATIONAL DESK: Numbers issued by a violence-monitoring department in the State Ministry for Peace Affairs indicate that over 24,000 Taliban fighters were killed and wounded in battles with the Afghan security forces over the past four months.

Based on the statistics of the State Ministry for Peace Affairs, during the period running from April to July the Taliban launched 22,000 attacks in various parts of the country and the attacks resulted in the killing and wounding of 24,000 Taliban fighters.

“The influx of more than 10,000 fighters from outside Afghanistan in order to increase the violence shows that there are also foreign hands behind the war in Afghanistan,” said Sayed Abdullah Hashemi, an official of the State Ministry for Peace Affairs.

Meanwhile, Attaullah Salim, the deputy head of the High Council of National Reconciliation (HCNR), said that the current war in Afghanistan has no religious legitimacy, adding that the Taliban must end the violence.

“We support discussions on all issues including the issue of prisoners and the removal of names from the blacklist including a debate on the Constitution,” said Salim, referring to Taliban prisoners.

He said that the Taliban have not announced when they are ready to hold the next round of talks.

“Discussions move on between our contact groups and the Taliban movement,” said Salim.

The Taliban have so far not commented on the statistics about their casualties.

Based on the numbers by the State Ministry for Peace Affairs, during this period 5,777 civilians were also killed including women and children. (TOLO news)