News / Afghanistan

Afghanistan: Taliban killed or wounded over 400 security personnel in one week

Sunday, 14 June 2020 2:30 PM [ Last Update: Sunday, 14 June 2020 4:50 PM ]

Mourners carry the coffin of an Afghan security member of a border post killed by Taliban fighters, during a burial ceremony in Dande Patan district of Paktia province on May 29, 2020. (Photo by AFP)

Afghanistan’s government says the Taliban militants have killed or wounded more than 400 security personnel in one week.

“In the past one week, the Taliban carried out 222 attacks against the Afghan security forces, resulting in the death and injury of 422” personnel, said government official Tareq Arian at a press briefing in Kabul on Sunday.

He also blamed the Taliban for targeting religious scholars in a bid to put “psychological pressure” on the government.

“This has been the goal of the Taliban to target religious scholars, especially in the past two weeks.”

On Friday, a bomb blast ripped through a mosque in Afghanistan’s capital, killing at least four people, including the prayer leader.

The assault came just over a week after an attack claimed by the Daesh Takfiri terrorist group at a mosque on the edge of Kabul’s heavily fortified diplomatic district killed a prominent prayer leader.

Bomb attack kills 4 at mosque in Afghan capital

A bomb blast rips through a mosque in Afghanistan’s capital, Kabul, killing at least four people, including the prayer leader.

Afghan National Security Council spokesman Javid Faisal on Sunday said the Taliban “have not reduced, but rather increased their attacks across the country.”

The United Nations (UN) has recently warned of an alarming uptick in violence against civilians and a “striking deterioration” in upholding international humanitarian law in Afghanistan.

Violence has surged despite a deal between the Taliban and the United States. Official data shows that Taliban bombings and other assaults have increased 70 percent since the militant group signed the deal with the United States in February.

In Kandahar, another black day as women, kids die in bombing

The bomb explosion hit a small bus in the southern Afghan province.

Under the agreement, the US will withdraw its forces from Afghanistan, and the Taliban will refrain from attacking international occupying forces. The militants have made no pledge to avoid attacking Afghan forces and civilians.

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