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AFGHANISTAN-UNREST
Taliban raid on Afghan military base kills 17: officials
HERAT, Afghanistan, June 9, 2018 (BSS/AFP) – At least 17 Afghan soldiers
were killed when Taliban fighters stormed a military base in western
Afghanistan, hours before the group announced a ceasefire, officials said
Saturday.
The Taliban claimed the Friday night attack, which Herat provincial
governor spokesman Jilani Farhad told AFP killed 17 members of the Afghan
security forces and wounded another.
There also were a number of Taliban casualties in the Zawol district
ambush, Farhad said, but he could not provide exact figures.
Zawol district governor Mohammad Saeed Sarwari confirmed the attack and
the death toll.
“The Taliban confiscated weapons following the attack,” Sarwari told AFP.
In a WhatsApp message, the Taliban put the death toll at 18 Afghan
soldiers.
The attack came hours before the Taliban announced an unprecedented
ceasefire with Afghan security forces for the first three days of Eid, the
holiday that caps Ramadan.
That unexpected move came two days after the Afghan government’s own
surprise announcement of an apparently unilateral week-long halt to
operations against the Taliban.
It would last “from the 27th of Ramadan until the fifth day of Eid-al-
Fitr”, President Ashraf Ghani tweeted from an official account, indicating
the ceasefire could run from June 12-19.
BSS/AFP/IJ/1452 hrs