KABUL • A Taleban ambush that appears to have had inside help has killed up to 24 Afghan security forces in southern Afghanistan, officials said.
Last Friday's Taleban assault on government forces was the latest since the militant group signed a peace agreement with the United States on Feb 29. The Taleban has so far ceased attacks against the US and coalition troops, but it has continued to target Afghan government forces.
A group of Taleban fighters attacked a joint police and army outpost around 3am on Friday on the main highway to Kabul in Zabul province, parts of which are under the militants' control.
Mr Rahmatullah Yarmal, governor of Zabul, said the attackers were aided by at least five police officers who then escaped with the Taleban fighters.
The attackers burned the outpost after killing every man inside, said Mr Haji Malim Kareem, a tribal elder from Qalat, the provincial capital.
"The outpost was attacked, and it completely collapsed in just one hour," Mr Kareem said. "There was no one left alive."
The ambush came during an especially volatile period in Afghanistan.
Since the signing of the peace agreement, the country has been shaken by the coronavirus pandemic, a breakdown in negotiations over a prisoner release and a government split after a disputed presidential election that ended in President Ashraf Ghani and his chief rival Abdullah Abdullah separately taking the oath of office.
Direct negotiations between the Afghan government and the Taleban were supposed to begin on March 10, with the ultimate goal of a post-war government that would include the militants.
The agreement envisioned a "confidence-building measure": the release by March 10 of 5,000 Taleban prisoners and 1,000 security forces held by the militants.
But Mr Ghani, whose government was excluded from the US-Taleban negotiations, has said he would not release the prisoners without concessions from the Taleban, which has refused.
The dispute has stalled the peace process and left the government unable to set up its negotiating team. The coronavirus outbreak has further complicated that process, limiting face-to-face meetings and restricting travel as the government struggles to fight the virus.
The Feb 29 signing ceremony was preceded by a week-long "reduction in violence" by all sides, but the Taleban has since ramped up attacks on Afghan forces, targeting remote bases and outposts as it did in Zabul province last Friday.
"We thought the Taleban would be flexible after announcing a reduction in violence, but they are becoming more aggressive against the security forces," said Mr Kareem, the tribal elder.
In a statement, Mr Sediq Sediqqi, Mr Ghani's spokesman, said the attack had demonstrated the Taleban's "commitment for continued violence and against the Afghan peace process".
The Ministry of Defence on Friday said that the government would retaliate against the attack, and put the death toll of security force members at 17.
It said in a statement: "Afghan National Defence Security Forces will not leave this attack without response, and will take the revenge of the blood of the martyrs."
NYTIMES
