Taliban attack kills 26 troops at army base in Afghanistan
Twenty-six Afghan soldiers have been killed and 13 wounded in a Taliban attack on a military base in Kandahar province, in the south of the country.
The militants attacked a camp in the Khakrez district of Kandahar over Tuesday night, said defence ministry spokesman Gen Dawlat Waziri.
Gen Waziri said Afghan soldiers “bravely resisted”, killing more than 80 insurgents.
Residents described an hours-long attack launched by a 30-vehicle convoy carrying “hundreds” of Taliban, who struck the base from several directions.
The insurgents claimed the attack on Twitter. The resurgent Taliban have been intensifying their campaign against the army during the summer fighting season.
Afghan security forces – suffering by a high death toll, desertions and non-existent “ghost soldiers” on the payroll – have been struggling to beat insurgents since US-led Nato troops ended combat operations in December 2014.
Casualties among Afghan security forces soared by 35 per cent last year, when 6,800 soldiers and police officers were killed, US watchdog Sigar said.
The insurgents have carried out more complex attacks this year, with Sigar saying troop casualties early in the year were shockingly high.
In April, at least 135 soldiers were killed on a base outside the northern city of Mazar-i-Sharif, one of the worst Taliban attacks on a military installation yet. Some sources put the toll as high as 200.
In early March, gunmen disguised as doctors stormed Kabul’s Sardar Daud Khan hospital, the country’s largest military hospital, killing dozens.
The Taliban have a heavy presence in Kandahar province, famous for its opium poppies, and have launched attacks on security forces there, including some in May that killed dozens of soldiers.
A recent UN report showed that Kandahar, which lies on the border with Pakistan, was also one of the most dangerous places in the country for civilians.
More than 70 villagers were kidnapped by the Taliban in recent days, officials said.
Seven were found dead and 30 returned, while Afghan police have launched a search operation for those still missing.
Afghan forces now control 59.7 per cent of the country, up from 57.2 per cent in the first three months of the year, Sigar said.