TALIBAN KILLS 30 AFGHAN FORCES

Herat, Afghanistan, June 20: Taliban fighters killed around 30 Afghan security forces in multiple attacks in western Afghanistan, officials said Wednesday, in the deadliest clashes since the militant group ended its ceasefire.

Militants stormed at least two bases belonging to government forces in Badghis province overnight and ambushed a convoy of reinforcements. Officials said the group may have used the threeday truce, that ended Sunday, to plan the attacks.

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

The other soldiers and police were killed when militants raided their bases, Qhafoor added. The Taliban claimed responsibility for the attacks in a WhatsApp message to journalists. Provincial council chief Abdul Aziz Bek confirmed the death toll. “During the ceasefire the Taliban had sent informants to collect information about the bases and plan the attack,” he told AFP. It appeared to be the deadliest fighting since the Taliban returned to the battlefield on Monday after refusing a government request to extend their unprecedented three-day ceasefire. Further reinforcements had been deployed, the statement said. It appeared to be the deadliest fighting since the Taliban returned to the battlefield on Monday after refusing a government request to extend their unprecedented three-day ceasefire.