The governor of Paktia survived an ambush while roadside explosion continued to claim civilian lives across Afghanistan.

Paktia governor Mohammad Halim Fidai survived an armed attack in the Mohammad Agha district of Logar province on Sunday. There were no casulaties in the incident.

Three local employees of the Ministry of Mines and Petroleum were killed in a roadside explosion in the Jarqdaq area of Jawzjan province, the ministry said. The Jawzjan governor’s office said the victims were two engineers and the driver of the car.

Ghazni governor’s spokesperson Wahidullah Jumazadah said seven civilians were killed, including two children, three women and two men, in a mine explosion in the Jaghato district of Ghazni on Sunday morning.

In Kandahar, at least two police forces were killed and two wounded during clashes with the Taliban in the Spin Boldak district on Saturday night. Four Taliban fighters were also killed and five were injured during the attack. Another two Taliban members were killed when the mine they were planting exploded in the Maiwand district.

The Ministry of Defense (MoD) said a Taliban leader named Mullah Akhtar arrested during a military operation in Kabul’s Shakardara district on Saturday night. The MoD said he was involved in the latest wave of terrorist activities in the district.

At least 12 Taliban insurgents were illed in the Bala Boluk district of Farah on Saturday night, the MoD said. A local official also said that two security forces were wounded in the clashes.

Two local policemen were killed and three more wounded in a Taliban attack in Alishing district of Laghman on Saturday night, said the spokesperson for the provincial governor Assadullah Dawlatzai.

Taliban fighters also closed the Kandahar-Uruzgan highway and issued warning letters to the drivers, passengers and residents, asking them to not use the road in the neighbouring areas of the provinces.

Local officials in Ghazni province confirmed that seven civilians were killed when a roadside bomb exploded in Jaghato district of the province.

The incident took place at around 10:00 am today (Sunday) in the Qeiaq area of Jaghato district, Ghazni governor’s spokesman Wahedullah Juma Zadeh said.

Mr. Jumazadeh explained that the killed include three women, two children and two men.

According to him, the incident was caused when a Saracha type vehicle carrying the passengers hit a roadside bomb.

In the meantime, Nasir Ahmad Faqiri, head of the Ghazni Provincial Council said that the corpses remained at the scene and that no security officials had yet arrived to transport the dead bodies.

But Wadullah Jumaezadeh said security forces had been deployed to the area and would soon transport the corpses to a civilian hospital in Ghazni.

Afghan Local officials in Kandahar say at least two police forces were killed and two others were wounded during clashes with the Taliban insurgents.

Kandahar police spokesman Jamal Nasser Barakzai said on Sunday that the incident took place in the Bulk Mina area of Spinboldak district when a Taliban group attacked a police checkpoint.

According to Mr Barakzai, the fighting between the two sides lasted for about an hour, killing four Taliban insurgents.

The Kandahar police spokesman added that five Taliban members were also wounded during the clash.

The Ministry of Public Health (MoPH) said 46 samples were found to be positive for Coronavirus in the past 24 hours in Afghanistan.

The MoPH said new cases were reported in the provinces of Kabul (15), Farah (5), Balkh (11), Takhar (3), Badghis (3) and Kunduz (3), Bamyan (2), Badakhshan (2) and Maidan Wardak (2).

The total confirmed COVID-19 cases in the country reached 37,999 people.

The MoPH added that 221 Corona patients were recovered during the past 24 hours and the tally reached 28,211.

MoPH added that two patients were succumbed to coronavirus and the death toll reached to 1,378.

The Ministry of Defense (MoD) announced that at least 12 Taliban insurgents were killed in Bala Boluk district of western Farah province on Saturday night.

MoD in a press release stated that the Taliban fighters were killed while attacking an Afghan National Army base in Bala Boluk district.

“A group of Taliban militants attacked the Afghan army base with detonating a car bomb and opening fire on security forces,” the press release reads.

According to the press release, the Afghan security forces repulsed the attack and had no casualties during the clashes.

However, the Gulistan district chief for Farah province, Ajmal Zahed claimed that two security forces were wounded in the incident.

The Ministry of Interior (MoI) on Sunday said the police chief for Kabul province, Amanullah Wahidi has been dismissed.

The spokesman of MoI, Tariq Arian declined to comment the reason for the dismissal of Kabul Police chief, however, reports suggest that the reason was due to the increase of insecurity in the capital.

The move comes after 14 rockets hit parts of Kabul on the 101th anniversary of Afghanistan’s independence day despite special security measures.

The Iranian special envoy for Afghanistan, Mohammad Ebrahim Taherian, has voiced concern over the spread of insecurity in the capital, Kabul after four attacks killed several Afghan security forces on Saturday.

The Iranian envoy expressed concern about the escalation of insecurity in Afghanistan, particularly over the bomb explosions in Kabul.

“Establishment of peace and stability is not only a public demand from people, the government, and various currents of Afghanistan, but a necessity in the course of promotion of regional cooperation and achievement of collective security,” he added.

This comes as the Afghan Ministry of Interior (MoI) called the explosions in the Kabul city, part of the Taliban’s “psychological war” to create fear among the people.