Taliban kills 30 security forces in Afghanistan

TALIBAN fighters killed around 30 Afghan security forces in multiple attacks in western Afghanistan, officials said onWednesday, two days after the group ended its ceasefire.

“More than half of the fatalities came from the ambush and roadside bomb blasts that hit a reinforcement convoy,” Badghis provincial governor Abdul Qhafoor Malikzai said.

The other soldiers and police were killed when militants stormed their bases overnight.

The Taliban claimed responsibility for the attacks in a WhatsApp message to journalists.

Provincial council chief Abdul Aziz Bek confirmed the death toll and accused the Taliban of taking advantage of the suspension in fighting to do reconnaissance in the area.

“During the ceasefire the Taliban had sent informants to collect information about the bases and plan the attack,” he said.

Badghis governor spokesman Jamshid Shahabi said that 15 Taliban fighters were also killed and 21 wounded in the attacks on two bases in Bala Murghab district.

The Defence Ministry issued a statement saying fighting in the area continued as the Taliban faced “stiff resistance” from Afghan security forces. Further reinforcements had been deployed, the statement said.

It appeared to be the deadliest fighting since theTaliban returned to the battlefield on Monday after refusing a government request to extend their unprecedented three-day ceasefire.

The first formal nationwide ceasefire since the 2001 US-led invasion had sparked extraordinary scenes of Taliban fighters, security forces and civilians happily celebrating the Eid al-Fitr holiday together.

But the jubilation appeared to alarm Taliban leaders, who on Sunday ordered their fighters to stay at their posts or in areas under their control.