10 Sept, 2018 15:47 HRS GMT | Deadly Attack in Kabul, Afghanistan KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — Taliban insurgents launched separate attacks on Afghan security forces in the country’s north, killing at least 52, provincial officials said Monday.
Mohammad Yusouf Ayubi, head of the provincial council in Kunduz province, said that at least 13 security forces were killed and 15 others wounded in an attack on a checkpoint they were manning in Dashti Archi district. The firefight began late Sunday and continued into Monday morning.
Meanwhile in Jawzjan province, Provincial Police Chief Gen. Faqir Mohammad Jawzjani said the Taliban attacked Khamyab district from different sides, forcing Afghan forces to withdraw from the district headquarters to avoid civilian causalities.
The Taliban also killed another 14 local Afghan policemen and pro-government militiamen in the Dara Suf district of Samangan province, provincial spokesman Sediq Azizi said, adding that six others were also wounded.
Meanwhile in the northern Sari Pul province, the provincial governor, Zahir Wahdat, said that the Taliban killed at least 17 Afghan security forces and wounded three others in attacks across the province. He added that 39 Taliban fighters were killed and 14 others were wounded in the battles and the death toll could rise.
Since a June cease-fire that marked the Islamic holiday of Eid al Fitr, Taliban insurgents have ramped up attacks against Afghanistan’s security forces killing hundreds of security personnel in increasingly well-coordinated assaults across the country.
Attacks against military installations have been relentless, and on several occasions the Afghan National Security Forces (ANSA) have been outgunned and out maneuvered. Even Washington’s watchdog, the Special Inspector General for Afghanistan’s Reconstruction (SIGAR), in successive reports noted weaknesses within the security forces, including desertions, inadequate training and corruption.
A local affiliate of the Islamic State group has also emerged in the past years and carried out brazen and increasingly deadly attacks, most often targeting civilians and the country’s minority Shiite Muslims. The Taliban and the Islamic State affiliate are enemies and have attacked each other’s forces. The Taliban has also denied responsibility for attacks on Shiites, which IS has claimed.