Vice President escapes Taliban ambush

Afghan Vice President, Gen. Abdul-Rashid Dostum, survived a Taliban ambush on Friday, August 21, in northern Afghanistan, while leading a military offensive against the insurgency.

Sultan Faizy, His Media Advisor, said in Kabul that Dostum was returning to his base after observing a check post in Qaisar District, when the Taliban ambushed his convoy, which followed a gun battle.

"Gen. Dostum was travelling in a tank-type vehicle, which received some bullets. Nothing happened to him. None of the security forces were injured or killed’’, he said.

Faizy said Dostum has been overseeing a joint offensive, including the Afghan special forces and village militias under his patronage in northern Afghanistan against the Taliban insurgents for the past three weeks.

He said his focus had been Faryab, the volatile north-western province, where hundreds of Taliban insurgents had been killed and captured.

"Dostum has been planning, observing, and closely evaluating the operations in the north."

Faizy said he has led many of the joint operations that captured tens of fighters, including foreigners from Chechnya, Pakistan and the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan (IMU).

IMU recently pledged their allegiance to the Islamic State group.

The conflict has also displaced more than 30,000 civilians this year, according to Norwegian Refugee Council.

Dostum is a feared Uzbek strongman who led a brutal fight against the Islamist extremist Taliban.

His fighters were accused of gross human rights violations during the civil war in the 1990s.