Taliban kill 10 Afghan forces in northern province

By Shadi Khan Saif

KABUL, Afghanistan (AA) - Taliban killed at least 10 Afghan security personnel in the northern Kunduz province that borders Tajikistan, an official confirmed on Monday.

Mohammed Yosuf, the provincial council chief in Kunduz, told Anadolu Agency that joint checkpoints and patrol teams of the army and local pro-government militia were attacked by the Taliban in the Imam Saheb district late Sunday.

Fighting continued till early Monday, leaving at least 10 security forces killed and three more wounded, he added.

The Taliban took responsibility for the attack on Twitter. The group's spokesman, Zabiullah Mujahed, dubbed the assault as part of their ongoing "al-Fath" offensives.

This comes a day after the insurgents vowed to take revenge of alleged civilian casualties in Kandahar.

Afghanistan on Sunday claimed to have killed at least 90 Taliban militants in the restive southern province. The Defense Ministry said multiple assaults by the Taliban were repulsed, and subsequent clean-up operations conducted in different districts.

The surge in violence comes as Kabul and the Taliban engage in peace talks that started on Sept. 12 in the Qatari capital of Doha.

The negotiations are aimed at ending the nearly two-decade-long conflict following a landmark peace deal between the US and the Taliban in February that calls for the withdrawal of all foreign troops from Afghanistan.