Local Daykundi officials confirmed that a released Taliban prisoner, who re-joined the frontlines, has been killed when the militants attacked a security checkpoint in Pato district on Tuesday.
District Governor Sayed Taher Etemadi said in a press release on Wednesday, that the Taliban attacked the People’s Uprising Forces checkpoint at around 9 pm on Tuesday night in the Sartgab village of Pato.
The Taliban were well-equipped with laser weapons and despite the resistance of the security forces, were able to make progress, Etemadi said.
It was only when the Afghan air support arrived that the clashes ended, close to four hours later at 1 am.
Five Taliban fighters were killed and seven wounded in the counterattack.
The governor said that there were also reports of a foreign Taliban fighter being among the fatalities, but it has not been confirmed yet.
He added that two Taliban and a civilian were injured in the attack.
Earlier, a released Taliban prisoner had also been killed in the battlefront in Baghlan, which had raised the alarm.
Senate Speaker Fazl Hadi Muslimyar had told a plenary session of parliament that he feared more Taliban prisoners would continue to return to the front despite their written commitments which they signed on their release.
He had called on the U.S. to act a mediator and for the Afghan government to release only those prisoners who demonstrated that they would live up to their commitment to a peaceful and nonviolent life.
The government has so far released about 4,200 Taliban prisoners form prisons across the country.
