KANDAHAR: At least 10 Afghan soldiers were killed and seven others injured during a Taliban attack on a military and two police checkpoints in the southern province on Tuesday.
As per media reports, the simultaneous raids by the Taliban on one army and two police checkpoints in Kunduz province led to fierce gunfights that lasted for hours.
Afghan government’s official, Nasruddin Saadi talking to media said nine members of Afghan security forces were killed and seven more were wounded in the fighting.
Meanwhile, Kunduz provincial governor spokesman Esmatullah Muradi confirmed the coordinated attack but said 10 security personnel were killed in the night-time combat.
Terror activities continue to grasp Afghanistan still as the US and the Taliban discuss issues aimed at dipping America’s forces paw marks in the country in going back for the rebels ensuring an enhanced better security condition.
On June 21, Taliban militants had kidnapped about 60 civilians in central Afghanistan over the past few weeks amid efforts by the US and other foreign countries to start peace talks, an Afghan government’s official had claimed.
According to the provincial deputy governor, Mohammad Ali Uruzgani, the Taliban took the hostages in the central province of Daikundi after a woman escaped a Taliban-controlled village in a neighboring province.
“Some 26, including women and children, had been released and tribal elders were mediating to free the remaining civilians,” the official added. A Taliban spokesman, however, had denied kidnapping the civilians.
Earlier in February, the Afghan Taliban had signed a troop withdrawal agreement with the United States, which was designed to pave the way for peace talks with the Afghan government.
However, the violence has ramped up since the agreement and discord over the release of Taliban prisoners have hampered progress on formal talks.
In this regard, a spokesman for the National Security Council said that the Taliban had killed more than 40 civilians around the country in the past week.
The spokesman said, “The Taliban have failed to deliver on promises of reducing violence against the Afghan people and working for peace.”