Hawzah News Agency (Khwaja Omari, Afghanistan) - Aref Noori, a provincial governor spokesman, announced the development on Thursday, adding that the deadly raid on the Khwaja Omari district headquarters also inflicted injuries on nine intelligence officers.

Ramazan Ali Mohsini, the deputy provincial police chief, put the death toll at 13.

He further said that scores of Taliban militants had also been killed in the ensuing exchange of fire between the police and the armed men.

“The attack is over and the district is under the control of Afghan security forces after reinforcement forces rushed to the scene following the Taliban attack,” Mohsini said.

The terror group claimed responsibility for the assault later in the day, claiming that its members had managed to seize “weapons and ammunition” during the raid. It also said that three Taliban militants had been killed and four others wounded.

The attack was one of the deadliest by the terror group in past several weeks and came as the group prepares to launch its annual spring offensive.

Airstrikes by US warplanes have significantly increased in recent months against the purported positions of the Taliban militant group and other militant outfits in the crisis-hit country.

According to the United Nations figures released earlier this year, more than 10,000 Afghan civilians were killed or wounded in the Afghan conflict last year. While the main cause of civilian deaths was said to be militant bombings, the report said US airstrikes as well as government forces had also caused casualties.

US-led forces invaded Afghanistan and toppled a ruling Taliban regime some 17 years ago. That ongoing war has failed to bring stability to the country despite the presence of thousands of foreign forces. A recent survey found that the militants were active in two-thirds of the country and were fully controlling four percent of it.

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