30 dead as Taliban attacks in Kabul

◗ Abdul Aziz Beg, a senior official, said that the fighters first attacked the checkpoints, then ambushed reinforcements in Badghis province. ◗ They struck the Army positions from different directions, and ‘ very brutally killed them all.’

Kabul, June 20: Taliban fighters have killed at least 30 Afghan soldiers in attacks on two checkpoints in western Badghis province, a provincial official said.

Abdul Aziz Beg, head of the provincial council in Badghis, said that the fighters first attacked the checkpoints, then ambushed reinforcements as they arrived in Bala Murghab district.

The Taliban moved in large numbers, striking the Army positions from different directions, and “very brutally killed them all,” Mr Beg said.

He said that the attack started on Tuesday night and continued into Wednesday morning.

There were casualties among the insurgents, he said, but couldn’t provide an exact number.

In a separate report form the same province, the Taliban launched another attack on a local police check point, killing one and wounding four others in Ob Kamari district, Beg added.

No one immediately claimed responsibility for the attacks, but the Taliban are active in Badghis and have repeatedly claimed attacks against Afghan security forces there. In neighbouring Farah province, Taliban gunmen killed

four policemen, said Mohibullah Mohib, spokesman for the provincial police chief.

Mr Mohib said that five other police personnel were wounded in the attack on Wednesday morning on the main high way between Farah and Herat provinces.

He added that the Afghan air force struck back with an airstrike that killed some 20 of the insurgents and wounded eight others.

No one claimed responsibility for the attack in Farah.

The Taliban had observed a cease- fire over the three- day Eid ul- Fitr holiday last weekend but rejected the government’s request for an extension.