Kabul, May 15 (IANS): At least 16 militants were killed in a gunfight as Taliban militants targeted a major highway linking Kabul to six provinces, police said on Sunday.
"Taliban attacked security checkpoints in Chashma-e-Shir village in Baghlan province on Saturday night," Xinhua news agency quoted police as saying on Sunday.
The strategically important Baghlan province with Pul-e-Khumri as its capital has been the scene of Taliban-led militancy over the past couple of years and the militants have mounted pressure on Dand-e-Ghori and Dand-e-Shahabudin districts outside provincial capital to gain access to Kabul-Mazar highway.
Chashma-e-Shir is situated next to a major highway linking Kabul to the largest northern Mazar-e-Sharif city and the fighting led to closure of the highway for a while, the police said.