New Taliban attack on Afghan base kills 15 soldiers
AFP
At least 15 Afghan soldiers were killed when Taliban fighters attacked their army base in the southern province of Kandahar, the defence ministry said Friday, in the second such assault on Western-backed forces this week, reports AFP.The attack in Shah Wali Kot district late Thursday came just three days after 10 Afghan soldiers were killed when Taliban militants stormed another base in the same area.
The assault, mounted by hundreds of insurgents, highlights a growing Taliban offensive in Kandahar, where security has relatively improved in recent years under the leadership of police chief and regional strongman General Abdul Raziq.
The Taliban launched a coordinated assault on an army base last night (Thursday) in Shah Wali Kot district of Kandahar province, ministry spokesman Dawlat Waziri told AFP.
Fifteen Afghan army soldiers were martyred and five others wounded... but the base was under the control of Afghan forces.
A provincial official who spoke on the condition of anonymity gave a higher death toll of 20. The Taliban claimed responsibility for the Kandahar attack as their annual spring offensive intensifies and the insurgency expands more than 15 years after they were toppled from power in a US-led invasion.Raziq had lashed out at the central government in Kabul on Thursday, accusing them of a plot to destabilise his province.
Some political figures within the National Unity Government are trying to destabilise Kandahar like (neighbouring) Helmand and Uruzgan provinces, Raziq told a public gathering.
