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AFGHANISTAN-UNREST LEAD
At least 22 Afghan police killed in Taliban ambush: official
HERAT, Afghanistan, Nov 26, 2018 (BSS/AFP) – At least 22 police officers
were killed in a Taliban ambush in western Afghanistan, a health official
said Monday, in another blow to Afghan forces already suffering record
casualties.
The attack on the police convoy in Farah province follows a wave of
violence across Afghanistan in recent weeks, including a suicide bombing
inside an army base mosque on Friday, and intensifying efforts to convince
the Taliban to end the 17-year war.
At least two police officers were wounded in Sunday’s ambush, said Shir
Ahmad Weda, director of the public hospital in the provincial capital.
The Taliban claimed responsibility for the attack in a WhatsApp message,
saying 25 police were killed and four wounded.
“Four vehicles were destroyed and a large quantity of weapons were seized,”
Qari Yousuf Ahmadi, a spokesman for the militants, added.
Provincial police spokesman Mohibullah Mohib said the convoy had been
travelling from Farah city to Juwain district when it came under attack.
Mohib put the death toll at five with another seven wounded.
Afghan government and military officials often downplay the casualty toll
of security forces, while the Taliban frequently exaggerates the number its
fighters have killed or wounded. The Taliban and its smaller rival the
Islamic State group (IS) have been inflicting record casualties on local
forces this year.
At least 27 soldiers were killed in Friday’s suicide attack in a mosque on
an army base in the eastern province of Khost.
IS claimed responsibility for the explosion, which also wounded at least 79
service members. That came days after a suicide assault on a religious
gathering in Kabul that killed at least 55 people and wounded 94.
Since the start of 2015, when local forces took over from US-led NATO
combat troops to secure the country, nearly 30,000 Afghan soldiers and police
have been killed, President Ghani revealed this month — a figure far higher
than anything previously acknowledged.
Experts have warned the attrition rate is unsustainable.
US envoy Zalmay Khalilzad expressed hopes in Kabul earlier this month that
a peace deal to end the war could be struck before the Afghan presidential
election, scheduled for April 20.
His comments underscore an apparent increasing sense of urgency in the
White House and among American diplomats for such a deal to be done quickly.
But Afghan election organisers said Monday they were considering delaying
the poll for three months amid fears the ballot could derail efforts to
persuade the Taliban to talk.
BSS/AFP/ARS/1637 hrs