Taliban fighters (file photo)

RFE/RL’s Radio Free Afghanistan
May 16, 2020

Afghan officials say the Taliban has killed at least 11 government soldiers in separate attacks on security checkpoints in the country.

At least eight soldiers were killed in an overnight attack on a checkpoint in the eastern province of Paktia, provincial councilor Mohammad Rahman Qaderi said on May 16.

Paktia police chief Sultan Dawood Sultan said at least nine Taliban fighters were killed in the clashes.

Abdul Rahman Zurmati, the district governor of Samkani district, said Taliban militants also abducted 12 civilians accused of collaborating with the government.

On May 14, the militants detonated a truck bomb in Paktia, killing at least five people and injuring dozens of others.

Meanwhile, in the central province of Ghor, Taliban fighters reportedly overran a checkpoint in the provincial capital Firozkoh, killing three government troops.

Abdul Hazem Nateghi, a member of the provincial council, said the militants took 11 other soldiers captive.

The Taliban did not comment on the incidents.

The Taliban has ramped up attacks in recent weeks despite signing a peace agreement with the United States in February.

With reporting by dpa

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