Four Taliban attackers killed in Helmand siege, says MoD

Monitoring Desk

KABUL: Four heavily armed Taliban attackers were killed and the remaining surrounded by the Afghan security forces during an attack on a major military base in southern Helmand province, the Ministry of Defense said on Friday.

The attack, involving a dozen Taliban militants, began before dawn on Friday on the Maiwand Military Corps’ Shorabak base near Lashkargah, the provincial capital, the ministry said in a statement.

It said so far four of the attackers had been killed and the rest encircled by the security forces. The Defense Ministry statement said security forces also suffered casualties in the engagement, but offered no details.

The statement said casualties among the security forces would be revealed once an ongoing clearing operation in the area was wrapped up.

Earlier a security source said at least 27 insurgents, including at least seven suicide attackers, were involved in the assault. One of the bombers blew himself up inside the camp’s dining hall and another inside the garrison, he added.

The governor’s spokesman, Omar Zwak, told Pajhwok the attack came to an end after three attackers were killed and three Afghan Army soldiers were injured.

He said currently a search operation was underway in the area and most of the area had been cleared of insurgents. A Taliban spokesman, Qari Yousaf Ahmadi, said a large number of attackers had entered the military base and clashes were underway.

He claimed a number of Afghan and foreign troops suffered casualties in the ongoing attack. (Pajhwok)