GHAZNI CITY (PAN): The Taliban set fire to the houses of a provincial council member and another person in the Andar district of southern Ghazni province, where an anti-militant tribal militia has been raised, an official said on Friday. The rebels also abducted two people after setting fire to the houses on Thursday evening, the governor’s spokesman, Fazl Mohammad Sabawoon, told Pajhwok Afghan News. He said the abducted men were civilians. One of the two houses torched belongs to provincial council member Amanullah Kamrani, whose brother, Lotfullah Kamrani, is leading a tribal militia group battling the insurgents. A Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said the fighters attacked two posts set up against them by members of the public uprising group in the Sahib Khan village at round 9pm last night. Five members of the anti-Taliban group were killed, Mujahid said. A number of militiamen surrendered to the Taliban with their weapons and motorcycles during the clash, he said, adding an RPG (rocket propelled grenade), a machinegun, six AK-47s and two motorcycles were seized by the fighters, who destroyed the post. However, security officials dismissed Muhajid’s claims as untrue, saying the rebels torched two houses and abducted two civilians.
