KABUL – The Ministry of Defense says government forces are engaged inbattles against insurgents in seven provinces in order to remove securitythreats.

The ministry said recently a large number of troops were sent to Faryab toconduct anti-Taliban operations in Shirin Tagab and Khwaja Sabz Poshdistricts in the province.

Other operations, the ministry said, are ongoing in five districts ofGhazni province. Meanwhile, government forces are fighting insurgents inJawzjan, Badghis, Farah, Helmand and Uruzgan provinces.

“They are busy planning there. You will soon hear that there would be goodimprovements in military operations in the two districts,” Defense Ministryspokesman Mohammad Radmanish said.

“The situation in Ghazni is better in the past two days but unfortunatelythere were some problems in Faryab and we hope that the situationimproves,” said Radmanish.

Meanwhile, MPs from volatile provinces said the security agencies are notpaying the required attention to insecure areas.

“There is fighting in all 11 districts of Faryab where only centers andpolice headquarters are under government’s control while villages havefallen to militants,” said Rangina Kargar, an MP from Faryab.

“One district named Dahan-e-Ghori and another area which belongs toPul-e-Khumri City is Dand-e-Ghori. These have been a safe haven for theTaliban and for their military training for many years,” said MohayuddinMahdi, an MP from Baghlan.