Taliban overruns Afghan army base, kills 17 troops

The Associated Press The Taliban overran a base in northern Afghanistan, killing 17 soldiers while Afghan forces battled the insurgents for the fifth consecutive day in the eastern provincial capital of Ghazni on Tuesday, trying to flush them out of the city’s outskirts, officials said.

There were fears for the fate of the other troops from the base, known as Camp Chinaya, as the Taliban claimed that dozens had surrendered to it while others were captured in battle.

Along with the 17 troops killed in the attack in northern Faryab province, in the district of Ghormach, at least 19 soldiers were wounded, according to the spokesman for the defense ministry, Ghafoor Ahmad Jawed.

The Taliban had besieged the base — which housed about 140 Afghan troops — for three days before the massive push late Monday night, said the local provincial council chief, Mohammad Tahir Rahmani.

Rahmani said the base fell to the Taliban after the soldiers, who had resisted the three-day onslaught, failed to receive any reinforcements and ran out of ammunition, food and water. He said 43 troops were killed and wounded in the attack, but he didn’t give a breakdown.

Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid claimed Taliban responsibility for the attack, saying that 57 Afghan soldiers had surrendered to the Taliban, while 17 others were captured in battle. He said eight military Humvees also were seized.

The operations came on the fifth day after a massive Taliban attack on Ghazni. Hundreds of people have fled the fighting in the city, which has so far killed about 100 members of the Afghan security forces and at least 20 civilians.