TALIBAN LAUNCH DOZEN ATTACKS ON AFGHANS

Kabul, March 3: The Taliban carried out dozens of attacks on Afghan army bases, officials said on Tuesday, hours after ending a partial truce and throwing into doubt peace talks between Kabul and the insurgents.

The intra-Afghan negotiations are due to begin on March 10 according to a USTaliban deal signed in Doha on Saturday, but a dispute over a prisoner swap has raised questions about whether they will go ahead.

The agreement includes a commitment for the Taliban to release up to 1,000 prisoners and for the Afghan government to free around 5,000 insurgent captives — something the militants have cited as a prerequisite for talks but which President Ashraf Ghani has refused to do before negotiations start. The row has highlighted the tough road ahead, with the Taliban’s decision to end a partial truce on Monday complicating matters further.

In the last 24 hours the Taliban conducted 33 attacks in 16 of Afghanistan’s 34 provinces, interior ministry spokesman Nasrat Rahimi said. “As a result, six civilians were killed and 14 wounded. Eight enemy were also killed, 15 wounded,” he said on Twitter. Two soldiers were killed in one of the attacks in southern Kandahar province, a government statement said. An attack in Logar province near Kabul killed five security forces, the provincial governor’s spokesman Didar Lawang said. The halt to the limited truce, which began on February 22, ends what was a welcome reprieve for ordinary Afghans who have born the brunt the deadly violence. of