18 Afghan soldiers killed in Taliban attack

Asia-Pacific, News April 13, 2015 , by IRIA No Comments

KABUL, (Afghanistan) — Taliban militants attacked Afghan army posts in the country’s northeast, killing at least 18 soldiers and beheading some in a major attack to mark the start of the country’s summer fighting season, authorities said Monday.

The Defense Ministry said in an April 13 statement that at least 33 soldiers “have been martyred, wounded, [or] went missing” during fighting in Badakhshan Province.

Some 250 Taliban fighters overran the posts, said Gul Mohammad Bidar, the province’s deputy governor. Ahmad Nawid Froutan, a spokesman for the provincial governor, said the attack killed 18 soldiers, with eight of their bodies beheaded. He said Afghan troops killed 19 Taliban fighters, eight of them foreigners, and that the insurgents fled after reinforcements arrived to the area.

Most of the fighting occurred on April 10, when around 200 Taliban militants launched attacks on several army posts in the Jurm district.

Afghan officials said government forces later took back the district of Jorm in Badakhshan province but said they need reinforcements from the central government in Kabul.