DHAKA: Up to 12,000 Afghan Taliban fighters have been killed, wounded or captured this year, according to a United Nations report, which said violence in the wartorn nation was at a three-year high.

US-led Nato forces are to withdraw the bulk of their 75,000 troops from Afghanistan by the end of next year after 13 years fighting the Taliban.

The paper for the UN Security Council warned that the insurgents’ homemade bombs, which accounted for 80 percent of casualties among Afghan security forces, were becoming increasingly sophisticated.

A particular concern was Afghanistan’s developing mining industry, which uses large quantities of high explosives and detonating equipment, reports The Straits Times.

BDST: 1605 HRS, NOV 18, 2013
RoR/BSK