Taliban attack on Afghan army base kills 10 soldiers

At least 10 Afghan soldiers were killed when militants attacked their army base in the southern province of Kandahar, the defence ministry said on Tuesday, in the latest attack on Western-backed forces.

The assault in Shah Wali Kot district on Monday came just a day after 20 Afghan policemen were killed when Taliban fighters stormed their outposts in the neighbouring province of Zabul.

No group has so far claimed responsibility for the Kandahar attack. But Taliban insurgents are intensifying their annual spring offensive and their strength is growing, more than 15 years after they were toppled from power in a US-led invasion.

The attack marks another setback for the Nato-backed Afghan forces. It comes just a month after the Taliban killed at least 135 soldiers in the northern province of Balkh in the deadliest insurgent attack on an Afghan military base since 2001.