The Taliban have launched a collection of assaults because the US signed a withdrawal cope with the insurgents final month. PHOTO: AFP
KABUL: At the very least two dozen Afghan safety forces had been killed Friday in an insider assault on their base in southern Afghanistan, two officers advised AFP.
A number of “infiltrators” opened hearth on their comrades as they slept, Zabul governor Rahmatullah Yarmal mentioned, in one of many deadliest assaults because the US signed a withdrawal cope with the Taliban final month.
The pre-dawn raid focused a joint police and military headquarters close to Qalat, the provincial capital, lengthy thought of a Taliban stronghold.
“In the attack, 14 Afghan army forces and 10 policemen were killed,” Zabul provincial council chief Ata Jan Haq Bayan mentioned.
He added that 4 different Afghan safety forces had been lacking.
“The attackers had connections with the Taliban insurgents,” Bayan mentioned.
They fled in two army Humvee autos, together with a pickup truck, weapons and ammunition.
Yarmal confirmed the toll to AFP.
The Taliban didn’t instantly reply to a request for remark.
The incident comes a day after Afghan Defence Minister Asadullah Khalid referred to as on the Taliban to decide to a ceasefire as a method of tackling the novel coronavirus, which observers concern is spreading unchecked via the impoverished nation.
Khalid additionally mentioned Afghan forces ought to assume a extra aggressive “active defence” posture towards the Taliban, who’ve continued assaults throughout the nation since signing a cope with the US on February 29.
Zabul province borders Pakistan and former Taliban supreme chief Mullah Omar, who died in 2013, hid there for years.
