Kabul, June 9 : Hours after announcing a ceasefire in Afghanistan on Saturday, Taliban militants killed at least 20 pro-government forces, police said.

The Taliban launched the multi-pronged offensives on security checkpoints in Kunduz province's Qala-e-Zal district, police spokesman Inamudin Rahmani told Xinhua news agency.

"Taliban rebels launched coordinated attacks on security checkpoints in Qala-e-Zal district early morning, which resulted in the death of 20 pro-government forces and injuring six others," said Rahmani.

Earlier on Saturday, the Taliban announced a ceasefire in Afghanistan during the three days of Eid-ul-Fitr when no attack will be carried out on Afghan forces.

"All mujahidin are instructed to stop all their offensive operations against the domestic opposition forces throughout the country during the first, second and third days of the Eid," read a Taliban statement.

Eid al-fitr will begin on June 14.

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Shimla, Apr 13 (PTI): A moderate-intensity earthquake, measuring 3.4 on the Richter scale, struck Himachal Pradesh's Mandi district on Sunday, officials said.

The depth of the earthquake, which struck near Mandi town at 9:18 am, was 5 km, the Met office said.

The epicentre was located at 31.49 degree latitude and 76.94 degree longitude in the Mandi region, it said.

No loss of life and property was reported from any part of the state so far, officials said.

The Mandi district falls under seismic zone 5, which is a high-damage risk zone.