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Dozens killed in wave of attacks blamed on Taliban across Afghanistan

Frustration and fear grow over the recent spike in violence and both the Afghan government and Taliban are blaming each other.

AFP

A Hazara man reads the holy Quran beside his relative's grave in a cemetery on the outskirts of Kabul on January 14, 2021

A wave of Taliban attacks and violence has killed dozens across Afghanistan, even as talks are underway between the government and the insurgents in Qatar, officials said.

A statement from the Afghan Defence Ministry on Tuesday said four army soldiers were killed on Monday night in Taliban attacks on checkpoints in Kunduz province.

According to the ministry, 15 Taliban fighters were also killed and 12 were wounded.

The details were impossible to independently verify as Kunduz is off limits to journalists and the Taliban hold sway across most of the province's rural areas.

However, Ghulam Rabani Rabani, a provincial council member in Kunduz, gave a significantly higher casualty toll.

At least 25 members of the security forces were killed by the Taliban in separate attacks in the Dasht-e-Archi district, including 13 soldiers and four policemen, he said.

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ANA repelled Taliban attacks in #Konduz province last night.
15 #Taliban were killed and 12 others were wounded in Dashte Archi district and Bagh Sherkat area of Konduz province. Unfortunately, 4 #ANA members were martyred during the fighting.
— Ministry of Defense, Afghanistan (@MoDAfghanistan) January 19, 2021

Taliban behind attacks

At least eight other soldiers were killed near Kunduz city, the provincial capital, Rabani said.

Taliban spokesperson, Zabihullah Mujahid, said the insurgents were behind all the attacks.

The Taliban was able to seize weapons and ammunition from the checkpoints, he said.

Administration chief shot

Meanwhile, in southern Helmand province, Abdul Zahir Haqyar, administration chief in Washer’s district, was shot and killed by unknown gunmen on Monday night, said Abdul Nabi Elham, the provincial governor of Helmand.

Two of Haqyar’s bodyguards were wounded in the shooting.

No one immediately claimed responsibility for that attack.

Urozgan car bomb

Separately, in southern Urozgan province, at least 10 people, including women and children, were wounded, when a sticky bomb placed on a motorcycle exploded, according to the provincial governor, Mohammad Omar Sherzad.

A private car belonging to police officers was the target of the explosion, he said.

Daesh terrorist group has claimed responsibility for multiple attacks in the capital of Kabul in recent months, including on educational institutions that killed 50 people, most of them students.

Daesh has claimed responsibility for rocket attacks in December targeting the major US base in Afghanistan.

There were no casualties.

Stop-and-go talks

Taliban representatives and the Afghan government earlier this month resumed peace talks in Qatar, the Gulf Arab state where the insurgents maintain an office.

The stop-and-go talks are aimed at ending decades of conflict.

Frustration and fear have grown over the recent spike in violence, and both sides blame one another.

There has also been growing doubt lately over a US-Taliban deal brokered by the outgoing Trump administration. That accord was signed last February.

Under the deal, an accelerated withdrawal of US troops ordered by Trump means that just 2,500 American soldiers will still be in Afghanistan when President-elect Joe Biden takes office on January 20.

SOURCE: AP