Afghan forces kill over 50 Taliban in counter-attacks

KABUL (AFP): In response to the Taliban’s mounting assaults, Afghan forces on Sunday killed more than 50 insurgents in past 24 hours.

The Afghan national defense and security forces killed 27 Taliban insurgents, including their leader Qari Hafiz and wounded 19 others in the northern Kunduz province in “active defense”, the Defense Ministry said in a statement.

It added 12 more Taliban insurgents were killed and 14 wounded in Kandahar, eight others were killed and seven wounded in Helmand and five killed and six captured in Zabul. All are southern provinces.

In past two days, the insurgents staged coordinated assaults in Zabul, Baghlan and Kapisa provinces, killing at least 40 Afghan forces. The attacks came after a relative reduction in violence in line with the rejuvenated yet fragile peace process.

Condemning the attacks, President Mohammed Ashraf Ghani said it shows the Taliban’s reluctance to commit to peace.

Turkey also condemned the Taliban attacks. “On this occasion, we reiterate that nothing can be achieved by means of violence and call on all parties to end violence to create a proper ground for intra-Afghan negotiations,” the Foreign Ministry said in a statement on Friday.