AT LEAST 15 SOLDIERS KILLED IN TALIBAN ATTACK ON AFGHAN BASE IN KANDAHAR

At least 15 Afghan soldiers were killed when Taliban fighters attacked their base in Kandahar, officials said on Friday, in the third major insurgent assault this week on the military in the southern province. The assault in Shah Wali Kot district late on Thursday comes after hundreds of insurgents stormed other bases in the same area and Maiwand district earlier this week, bringing the death toll among Western-backed troops to around 60. The attacks highlight a growing insurgent offensive in Kandahar, a Taliban hotbed where security has relatively improved in recent years under the iron grip of police chief and regional strongman General Abdul Raziq.