Taliban ‘Infiltrators’ Attack Afghan Army Base, Kill Dozens of Troops, Policemen

By Staff, Agencies

At least 24 Afghan security forces and policemen were killed and several others are missing after “Taliban infiltrators” attacked them in an army base in southern Afghanistan.

The attack on a joint police and army headquarters near Kalat, the provincial capital, killed at least 14 Afghan army forces and 10 policemen, Zabul provincial council chief Ata Jan Haq Bayan said on Friday.

Additionally, four other members of the Afghan security forces went missing.

Bayan said that the attackers, who “had connections with the Taliban,” fled in two military Humvee vehicles, along with a pickup truck, weapons and ammunition.

The attack is the deadliest since the Taliban signed a deal with the United States in the Qatari capital, Doha, late last month.

Under the deal, the Taliban agreed to sever ties with al-Qaeda and other terror groups and sit down for peace talks with the Afghan government. In return, Washington will start a phased withdrawal of troops.

The Afghan government was a party neither to the negotiations nor to the deal that was primarily aimed at reducing violence in the war-torn country.

Since the deal was signed, however, violence has escalated with the militants carrying out dozens of deadly attacks across the country.