Fighting picks up in Afghanistan after cancellation of talks

KABUL: Fighting has picked up in Afghanistan after cancellation of peace talks between the US and the Taliban.

Afghan forces backed by US forces killed two senior Taliban leaders and at least 38 fighters of the insurgent group in joint air strikes conducted in northern and western regions of Afghanistan, officials said on Sunday. The operations, launched on Saturday night, were aimed at foiling attacks planned by the Taliban on Afghan forces, said a senior security official in capital Kabul, adding that clashes have escalated following the collapse of diplomatic talks between the US and the Taliban. The defence ministry in a statement said that the Taliban's designate governor for northern Samangan province, Mawlavi Nooruddin, was killed along with four fighters in an air strike in Dara-e-Soof Payeen district. But the Taliban denied the governor had been killed.