Kane Dane
The defense ministry and the insurgents said that the Taliban targeted an army checkpoint in northern Afghanistan on Tuesday that killed at least seven Afghan soldiers.
The Afghan ministry stated in a statement that the “enemy” attack in northern Balkh province, in the district of Dawlat Abad, also injured six other personnel of the security forces, which are three soldiers and three intelligence agents. The statement of the ministry further added that an investigation was underway.
Zabihullah Mujahid, the Taliban spokesman, claimed responsibility for the attack, also stating that the insurgents caught four Afghan troops and grabbed weapons and ammo form the checkpoint.
The Taliban now control or possess sway over nearly half of Afghanistan but advance to stage near-daily attacks targeting Afghan and U.S. forces, as well as government executives — even as they hold peace talks with a U.S. diplomat tasked with negotiating an end to the 18-year dispute, America’s longest war. Numbers of Afghan civilians are also killed in the crossfire or by roadside explosives planted by militants.
On Monday, an American soldier was also killed in warfare in northern Kunduz province. The Taliban alleged that they were behind a fatal roadside bombing that targeted American and Afghan forces in Kunduz.
Many of the Afghan civilians are also struggling because of the conflict between the Afghan government and the Taliban in the region.
