TALIBAN ATTACK AFGHAN TROOPS
25 commandos killed in central Ghazni
DOZENS of elite commandos were among the casualties suffered by security forces as the Taliban claimed to have taken a district in Ghazni province, stepping up battlefield pressure while seeking a political settlement with the United States.
Officials said about 25 commandos were killed in central Ghazni, where the Taliban have been battling militia from the Shia Hazara community in the districts of Malistan and Jaghori, a conflict coloured by hostility between Hazaras and Pashtuns.
US forces were providing assistance, including intelligence and close air support, a spokesman from US military headquarters in Kabul said.
Taliban spokesman Zabiullah Mujahid said Malistan had fallen, but local security officials said fighting continued close to the district centre.
“Troops have been sent to Malistan and Jaghori, and the people have stood up against the insurgents,” said Army General Chief of Staff Mohammad Sharif Yaftali.
Security officials said the commandos had been rushed in to unfamiliar territory and ambushed by Taliban fighters, many of whom now regularly use night vision equipment.
Afghanistan’s special forces units have suffered heavy casualties this year as the Taliban have mounted assaults on provincial centres, including Ghazni city and Farah city in the southwest.
At the same time as the Ghazni fighting on Sunday, about 50 police and soldiers were killed around Farah when Taliban fighters attacked checkposts in the city and nearby districts.
The Ghazni fighting prompted demonstrations in Kabul and Ghazni by Hazaras. A suicide attack, close to where demonstrators had been gathering in Kabul, killed at least six people.
Taliban spokesman Zabiullah Mujahid denied fighters were targeting any particular ethnic group, reflecting concern that the fight in Ghazni was being interpreted as a sectarian issue.