Afghan government says Taliban attack on checkpoint kills 14

Kabul, May 29

Taliban fighters attacked a military checkpoint in japanese Afghanistan, killing 14 navy personnel, the Defence Ministry mentioned on Friday.

The Taliban took accountability for the Thursday’s assault in Paktia province, calling it a “defensive action,” with out elaborating.

Javid Faisal, the spokesman for the Afghanistan nationwide safety adviser’s workplace, mentioned regardless of sporadic clashes, a truce in impact in the course of the three-day Muslim vacation of Eid al-Fitr, which ended Tuesday, would proceed.

The Taliban accused the Afghan authorities of finishing up an airstrike, on Wednesday, killing a number of civilians. The authorities mentioned the goal was Taliban fighters.

Neither facet appeared able to return to all-out preventing, nonetheless. “The détente that started during Eid al-Fitr continues despite reports of scattered incidents to the contrary,” Faisal mentioned.

Meanwhile, a group of 5 Taliban members have been in Kabul discussing the discharge of Taliban and Afghan authorities prisoners from.

The Afghan authorities has launched 2,000 Taliban prisoners for the reason that signing of a peace deal between the United States and the Taliban on February 29 and the insurgents have freed 347 captives.

Under the peace deal, the Afghan authorities is to launch as much as 5,000 insurgents, whereas 1,000 Afghan troopers and police can be freed by the Taliban. The settlement was signed to permit American troopers to return residence, ending America’s longest navy engagement.

The deal additionally requires Afghans in Kabul and the Taliban to start out negotiations to resolve the way forward for Afghanistan. Those negotiations have been delayed due to political feuding between Afghanistan’s President Ashraf Ghani and his rival in final 12 months’s presidential polls, Adullah Abdullah. The two reached an settlement earlier this month and the discharge of prisoners has raised expectations that negotiations can start. AP