Local officials in Ghor province said that a pair of siblings, a boy and a girl, killed two Taliban fighters in the Tiwara district to avenge their parents murder. They also seriously wounded Taliban’s deputy intelligence chief Sayyid Masoom.

The Taliban had attacked the village of Koryeh on Thursday night, killing three people, including the children’s parents, district chief Mohammad Rafiq Alam told the media.

The family’s 15-year-old daughter and 12-year-old son then took revenge by killing a Taliban fighter each and also seriously injuring the intelligence chief.

The district governor said that the siblings were then taken to a safe location by the officials.

The Taliban has not yet commented on the incident.

Officials in Bamyan said that the recent floods have caused severe damage and affected up to 16,000 families in the central part of the province.

Director Iqbal Jawadi of Bamyan’s Disaster Management Department said on Sunday that 4,800 families were severely affected and had reported huge financial losses.

Two people, a man and a woman, had also died due to the flooding, Jawadi said.

According to Bamyan officials, 20,000 acres of land, hundreds of homes, roads, irrigation canals, bridges and culverts had been destroyed or swept away.

Initial surveys also report that 200 animals have died.

The Disaster Management authorities are still completing the surveys in the Waras and Sayghan districts of the provinces.

Meanwhile, roads and canals have been reopened in central Bamyan and Yakawlang districts

Security sources in Kapisa province said that three civilians were killed and eight others were wounded when a Taliban rocket hit a residential area in the Tagab district on Saturday night.

Abdul Shayeq Shoresh, spokesperson for the Kapisa Police Command said that Taliban fighters first attacked the district at around 11:30 pm.

The fighters were repulsed by resistance from the security forces and while fleeing, they launched rockets at the buildings, one of those which hit a house.

Shoresh said that two Taliban fighters and a security guard were also wounded in last night’s clash.

The injured civilians and security forces are doing good, Shoresh said.

The Taliban have not yet commented.

Afghanistan reported 174 new Coronavirus cases, a day after its lowest daily count over the past three months was seen.

According to the Ministry of Public Health (MoPH), the total number of COVID-19 cases in the country has reached 35,475 and they have tested 83,771 samples since the outbreak began.

In the past day, the government labs tested 633 samples, however, the day before, they had just tested 194 across the country.

During the past 24 hours, lab samples found positive cases in Kabul (66), Herat (27), Badghis (22), Bamyan (20), Badakhshan (7), Takhar (6), Kunduz (5), Panjshir (4), Nangarhar (4), Ghor (4), Parwan (3), Paktia (3), Kandahar (2), Baghlan (2), Wardak (1), Helmand (1) and Uruzgan (1).

The MoPH said that 361 people had recovered while 17 fatalities had been noted, pushing those figures to 23,634 recovered and 1,181 deaths to date.

There are currently 10,660 active cases of COVID-19 in the country.

Beijing has once again said it is willing to extend the China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) into Afghanistan, the Chinese foreign Ministry said.

“China supports the extension of CPEC to Afghanistan, which will bring more BRI benefits to the Afghan people,” said Hua Chunying, spokesperson for the Chinese Foreign Ministry.

She added that China was “pleased” by Afghan transit trade from Gwadar port in Pakistan, which is a CPEC project, play a “positive role.”

China “stands ready to work together with Pakistan and Afghanistan in this regard,” said the spokesperson.

China also applauded the reopening of border crossings by Pakistan to resume trade with Afghanistan.

“China applauds the endeavours of Pakistan and Afghanistan to overcome difficulties caused by COVID-19 and resume trade and personnel exchange recently,” she told the weekly press briefing.

“As a neighbour and friend of both countries, China looks forward to improvement of relations between and economic development in Pakistan and Afghanistan, and stands ready to play a constructive role to this end,” the official said.

The first round of the entrance exam was held after a five-month delay in 17 provinces amid the Corona virus on Sunday.

Mohammad Hanif Farzan, deputy spokesman for the Ministry of Higher Education, told 8 Sobh newspaper that the first round of entrance exams were held in Uruzgan, Badghis, Paktika, Panjshir, Daikundi, Zabul, Sar-e-Pul, Samangan, Ghor, Farah, Kunduz, Kandahar, Kunar, Logar, Nuristan, Nimroz and Maidan Wardak with the observance of health recommendations in order to prevent the spread of Corona virus.

Hanif Farzan added that the entrance exams have been held in an open environment in many provinces.

Afghanistan National Examination Authority (NEXA) holds the current year’s entrance exam in four rounds.

The second round of the entrance exam is scheduled to start on the fourth day of Eid al-Adha in Helmand, Ghazni, Paktia, Khost, Kapisa, Bamyan, Laghman and Herat provinces.

The third round of the entrance exam will be held seven days after Eid al-Adha and will cover Faryab, Jawzjan, Balkh, Parwan and Baghlan provinces.

The fourth round of the entrance exam includes Nangarhar, Takhar and Badakhshan provinces.

The first shipment of Afghanistan’s transit goods has been shipped to China through Shahid Beheshti port in Chabahar, southern Iran.

Director General of Sistan and Baluchestan Ports and Maritime Organization, Behrouz Aghaei said while the world is affected by the coronavirus pandemic, Shahid Beheshti port in Chabahar has taken a big step to facilitate trade between Central Asian countries and Afghanistan with the countries of South and Southeast Asia and the Far East by establishing regular container transportation services.

Stating that Afghanistan’s first transit shipment of dried fruit was sent to Tianjin Port in China, he said that the cargo was sent to the Indian port of Mundra via Chabahar, which was unloaded at this port and loaded on another ship to its final destination.

During the past month, Afghanistan sent three transit consignments to India via Shahid Beheshti port in Chabahar.

The Paktika police confirmed that Darya Khan, the Surobi district police chief, was killed along with two of his bodyguards in a bomb blast planted by Taliban.

Paktika police spokesman Shah Mohammad Arian said on Sunday that the incident took place in the Hibati area of Surobi district during a patrol late last night.

Meanwhile, Mohammad Mirza Kathavazay, one of the lawmakers at the Lower House, said Darya Khan and three of his bodyguards had been killed in a the blast.

According to Kathavazay, Darya Khan has been in the security forces for two decades.

The Afghan security forces killed or wounded at least 28 Taliban insurgents during the clashes in northern Faryab province, the Afghan military said.

The 209th Shahin Corps in a statement said the Taliban insurgents launched attacks in Kohistan and Sherin Tagab districts, targeting the security posts in the central parts of the two districts.

The statement further added that the security forces effectively responded to the attacks, killing at least 12 Taliban insurgents.

The security forces also wounded at least 6 Taliban insurgents during the clashes, the statement added.

The Taliban group has not commented regarding the clashes so far.

The district police chief of Nawbahar, Saheb Jan was killed in a roadside bomb blast in Zabul province on Saturday, local officials confirmed.

The incident happened in Shahr-e-Safa district of the province after Sahib Jan’s vehicle struck by a roadside mine, said Samad Durani, district governor, adding that “four other policemen were wounded in the blast.”

The wounded have been taken to a nearby hospital for treatment, officials said.