50 killed in Afghan clashes

More than 50 people were killed and several others wounded in daily violence across Afghanistan within the day, authorities said Monday.

In a latest string of targeted killings in the war-torn country, former police officer Mohammad Idress, together with a college student, were killed in Mazar-i-Sharif city, capital of northern Balkh province Monday morning after gunmen fired on them on a street, a local police said.

In neighboring Samangan province, 14 pro-government militiamen were killed and six others wounded after Taliban militants stormed their security post in Dara-i-Suf district early Monday morning, provincial governor spokesman, Seddiq Azizi, told Xinhua.

Several militants were also killed and wounded in the fighting.

A young man was shot and killed in Police District 4 of Kandahar city, capital of southern Kandahar province, earlier on Monday morning.

The shooting came hours after a police officer and three Taliban militants were killed in a gunfight in Kandahar's Arghandab district.

Six civilians were killed and six others wounded when a mortar shell fired by Taliban struck a house in Gereshk district of neighboring Helmand province late on Sunday.

A Taliban district shadow governor named Mullah Saifuddin and 14 of his subordinates were killed after Afghan army warplanes bombed running vehicles in Baghlan-e-Markazi district of northern Baghlan province on Sunday night, an army spokesman at the region, Hanif Rezai, told Xinhua.

The airstrike was conducted by A-29 Super Tucano planes in retaliation for militants in the area where 20 army soldiers were killed and many others injured late Friday night.

Violence has been on the rise as Afghan security forces struggle against a surge in attacks by anti-government fighters since the drawdown of foreign forces within the past three years.

In addition, at least 13 police officers and 10 Taliban militants were killed and 20 police personnel were wounded following a fierce fighting in northern province of Kunduz on early Monday, a local official told Xinhua earlier in the day.

The latest clashes came as the Afghan security forces, backed by the U.S.-led NATO coalition troops, have increased ground and air offensives against militants in the past few months as the country is preparing for parliamentary and district council elections slated for Oct. 20.