...the Pashtun equivalent of men...
on the city of Herat
...a venerable old Persian-speaking city in western Afghanistan, populated mostly by Tadjiks, which is why it's not as blood-soaked as areas controlled by Pashtuns...
were pushed back by the security forces on Wednesday night, the provincial governor Abdul Saboor Qani said.
Taliban launched attacks on districts 2, 3, 10 and 11 of Herat city on Wednesday night, Qani said, adding that "Wahid Ahmad Kohistan
...a backwoods district of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa distinguished by being even more rustic than is the norm among the local Pashtuns....
i, police chief for Herat's District 10 and two security force members were killed in last night's festivities."
There are no reports on civilians’ casualties so far.
Qani said that the Air Force also conducted
...KABOOM!...
s in the city on in which "more than 100 Taliban were killed and dozens of others were maimed."
"These Taliban members were killed when they wanted to enter the city," he said.
Taliban has not commented on their casualties.
On Thursday, Herat festivities entered 9th day.
Mohammad Ismail Khan, former mujahedeen leader who is now leading the fight against the Taliban in Herat along with scores of public resistance forces, said on Wednesday that "the war in Herat city is being led by Pakistain."
He urged the residents of Herat city to rise up against the "clear aggression" of Pakistain, saying: "I want to make it clear that the war in Herat is a war between Pakistain and Afghanistan."
"This is not the Taliban’s war and the Taliban is a tool. Just as the Afghan people did not accept the dominance of the United States, Russia and other superpowers, they should not accept Pak dominance either."
A number of security force members who are battling the Taliban on the frontlines pledged to not allow the Taliban to enter the city.