19th June, 2018
Two days after the end of a three-day ceasefire, Taliban attacks in two checkpoints in Afghanistan’s northern Kunduz province have left at least nine members of the country’s security forces dead, officials said Tuesday.
Provincial councillors Aminullah Ayaddin and Amruddin Wali told dpa that Taliban militants stormed two security checkposts in Kunduz’s Dasht-e Archi district and killed seven army soldiers and two local policemen, as well as wounding between seven to ten others.
Two soldiers are missing from the checkpoint, with the militants stealing weapons, ammunition and a military vehicle, Wali said.
Earlier, six policemen were killed and four others were injured in Taliban attacks across five districts and the capital of Faryab province on Sunday night.
Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid took responsibility for the attacks, saying that 19 members of Afghan security forces were killed.
The attacks came as Taliban militants resumed normal offensives throughout the war-torn country after a three-day ceasefire with the government ended Sunday.
Millions of Afghans had celebrated the ceasefire and the Muslim Eid holiday on the weekend amid almost surreal scenes of brotherhood between government officials and Taliban militants.
The ceasefire was the first since the group lost power in 2001.
Though Afghan President Ashraf Ghani had extended the government’s ceasefire duration and requested the Taliban do the same, the militants denied the request.