Taliban deny reports of US airstrikes in Helmand, say they detonated mines

The Taliban have denied reports that the United States conducted airstrikes on a weapons cache in Helmand and said the Islamic Emirate had detonated mines near the province, Afghan media reported.

"The rumours that indicate an airstrike was conducted in Shurab of Helmand and that it inflicted casualties, are not true. However, old mines were gathered from several parts of Helmand, and we detonated them," said Inamullah Samangani, deputy spokesman for the Taliban, TOLOnews reported.

Political analysts said that if the reports were true, the attack would be considered a violation of international law. This comes as former US President Donald Trump suggested that US troops have left major weapons in the country and might march back to recapture them, quoted TOLOnews.

"A heavy explosion at a weapons depot at the Shurab military base took place on Wednesday last week, a source close to the Taliban said the blast was not caused by fire ... it was an airstrike that targeted the depot ..." Modern Diplomacy said.

Back in time, similar strikes were carried out in Nowzad and Musa Qala'h districts in Helmand, and Tarink city. A radio tower belonging to the Taliban, and another IED were demolished during the assault. Quoting the sources, Khaama Press also reported an instance of a search operation conducted by the Afghan Special Forces for a suspected weapons cache in Ahmedabad district of Paktika province and discovered one magnetic mine and 16 mine controllers.

( With inputs from ANI )

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