Taliban attack kills 18 Afghan security forces

LASHKARGAH,AFGHANISTAN:As many as 18 Afghan soldiers and members of the special forces have been killed in fighting in the western province of Farah, local officials said on Saturday.

Taliban fighters attacked troops assembled to prepare an attack in Bala Buluk district in the night, setting off a fierce battle, officials said.

Defence Ministry spokesman Dawlat Waziri said four members of the special forces had been killed and a number wounded, but the head of the local provincial council, Farid Bakhtawar, said the death toll had reached at least 18.

As the fighting went on, an air strike was called in and killed around 25 insurgents, he said.

In a message posted on Twitter, a Taliban spokesman said 53 commandos had been killed or wounded after arriving in Tapa Sadat, close to the Bala Buluk district centre, and a sizeable quantity of weapons seized.

This week’s incident was the latest in a series to have hit Farah province, between the border with Iran and the Taliban heartland of Helmand province, source of much of Afghanistan’s opium crop.

U.S. SAYS NO DIRECT TALKS WITH TALIBAN

The US has ruled out a recent request from the Taliban for a direct talk with the White House, unless it engages with the elected government of Afghanistan.

This comes a day after the Trump administration surprised the world by agreeing to a North Korean leader Kim Jong Un’s invitation for a meeting with President Donald Trump.

“What we’re looking for in Afghanistan is a fundamental recognition that in an insurgency, the insurgents and the government that is ruling need to engage in a conversation with one another as well as with other interested parties to that settlement,” said senior US diplomat for South and Central Asia, Alice Wells.