TEHRAN, March 14 - Militants have attacked a government checkpoint in western Afghanistan, killing at least 10 security forces.
TEHRAN,Young Journalists Club (YJC) - Abdul Samad Salehi, a member of the provincial council in Farah Province said on Wednesday that four of those killed had been intelligence officers and the six others police officers.
No individual or group immediately claimed responsibility for the attack, but a series of assaults by the Taliban militant group in Farah Province over the past week have killed at least 38 security forces.
The spike in attacks prompted local officials to request reinforcements.
“We have asked the central government for additional troops before [the provincial] Farah City falls into the hands of the Taliban,” Salehi said.
He said security forces were battling the Taliban on three different fronts, and the militants had launched several attacks on checkpoints around the provincial capital.
The terrorist group of Daesh is also present in Afghanistan.
Elsewhere in Afghanistan, a suicide truck bomb struck a checkpoint in the southern Helmand Province, killing at least two border police, according to Gen. Abdul Ghafar Safi, the police chief of the province, which borders Pakistan.
He said another three police were wounded in the blast.
The Taliban claimed responsibility for that attack.
US Defense Secretary Jim Mattis (C) is seen at the Resolute Support Mission headquarters on an unannounced visit to Kabul, Afghanistan, on March 13, 2018. (Photo by AFP)
The Taliban have increased their operations across the country in recent months, possibly provoked by US President Donald Trump’s announcement of a troop surge in the country.
A Taliban regime ruling Afghanistan was toppled by US-led forces in 2001.
Recently, the Taliban have offered to hold direct talks with the US to end the conflict. Washington has said the group has to talk to the government in Kabul. Afghan President Ashraf Ghani has offered direct dialog with the militants, but they have snubbed him so far.
Source: Press TV
Your Comment