Badakhshan local officials said Tuesday the Taliban in the province has changed its war strategy and are now bombing security check posts opposed to storming them.
According to local officials, the Taliban has conducted two suicide bombings against check posts this month and have moved their focus from Wardoj district to Baharak district.
Baharak district police chief Abdul Wodoud said both suicide bombings have been carried out in Baharak district.
In the first suicide attack two policemen were killed and three others wounded, Wodoud said.
According to Wodoud, insurgents carried out their second suicide bombing on Monday night in the same district. As a result of ensuing clashes, one insurgent was killed and two were wounded. The rest fled the area.
There were no casualties among security forces.
“We have families in Baharak district that cooperate with the Taliban but we are trying to stop the suicide attacks as we have already stopped their aggressive attacks,” Wadoud said.
Meanwhile a number of civil society members in the provincial capital Faizabad have raised concerns over the Taliban’s new tactics and said this will affect civilians.
Civil society members have criticized government forces for delaying the launch of their winter operation.
“Taliban techniques are very dangerous; with these techniques more civilians will suffer,” said Abdul Basir Wasiq a civil society activist.
Meanwhile, security forces in Badakhshan said they are waiting for orders to launch winter operations.
“We have all forces on the front line waiting for orders and when we receive orders we will launch our operation,” Wadoud added.
Badakhshan local officials said that preparations are being taken for an operation to eliminate insurgents during winter.
“Soon we will launch operations and it is expected that within two or three days we will launch our local operation and Wardoj district clearance operation will be conducted in three months of winter,” said Gul Mohammad Bedar deputy governor.
Taliban has controlled Wardoj and Yamgan districts for more than a year and are active in several other areas in Badakhshan.