More than 100 killed in Taliban attacks across Afghanistan

Mar 31, 2018

1 minute read

SUMMARY

The Afghan Defense Ministry says 43 soldiers have been killed and nine wounded in a Taliban attack on an army camp in the southern province of Kandahar. Ministry spokesman Dawlat Wazeri told RFE/RL that six soldiers were unaccounted for a…

The Afghan Defense Ministry says 43 soldiers have been killed and nine wounded in a Taliban attack on an army camp in the southern province of Kandahar.

Ministry spokesman Dawlat Wazeri told RFE/RL that six soldiers were unaccounted for after the attack on the Afghan National Army base in the Maiwand district early on October 19.

Only two of the soldiers stationed at the base escaped the attack unhurt.

Sgt. David Smitt, Task Force Destiny, 101st Combat Aviation Brigade, Pathfinder Team One, A team leader, maintains overwatch during a joint air assault dismount patrol with Task Force Destiny, 101st Combat Aviation Brigade, Pathfinder Team One and gunners from the British Royal Air Force Regiment's 15th Squadron in Kandahar province, southern Afghanistan, Feb. 10. During the patrol, the element moved through the village of Nevay Deh and met with some of the local village elders to address some of their concerns. Photo: US Army Sgt. 1st Class Sadie Bleistein

Waxeri said 10 militants were killed.

The Taliban claimed responsibility for the assault, the third major attack on Afghan security forces this week.

The Western-backed government in Kabul is struggling to beat back insurgents in the wake of the exit of most NATO forces in 2014.

A local security official told RFE/RL that a suicide bomber detonated a car filled with explosives near the base, before a number of gunmen launched an assault against the facility.

Kabul is the fifth fastest growing city in the world. Under the Taliban in 2001 the population was barely 1.5 million; today almost 4 million people call Kabul home. Photo from Recoilweb.com

The official, who was speaking on condition of anonymity, said the militants failed to overrun the base as reinforcement arrived at the scene.

Some reports said there were two suicide bombings.

Elsewhere in Afghanistan, six police officers were killed in an ambush in the northern Balkh Province late on October 18, according to Shir Jan Durani, a spokesman for the provincial police chief.

In the western province of Farah, the authorities said that militants attacked a government compound in the Shibkho district, killing at least three police officers.

A special operations team member with Special Operations Task Force West greets new Afghan Local Police recruits on their first day of training in Farah province (U.S. Marine Corps photo by Sgt. Chadwick de Bree)

The Taliban also claimed responsibility for the two attacks, which came after the extremist group launched two separate suicide and gun assaults on government forces on October 17 that left at least 80 people dead and about 300 others wounded, including soldiers, police officers, and civilians.

The attacks targeted a police compound in the southeastern city of Gardez, capital of Paktia Province bordering Pakistan, and a security compound in the neighboring province of Ghazni.

U.S. President Donald Trump recently unveiled a strategy to try to defeat the militants, and officials said more than 3,000 additional U.S. troops were being sent to Afghanistan to reinforce the 11,000 already stationed there.