KABUL: The Taliban group stormed the Afghan security and defense forces outposts in Qush Tapa district of northern Jawzjan province, where there is conflicting reports over death casualties of the security forces.

Ministry of Defense in a statement said the Taliban fighters were pushed back from the district and rejected the district was fallen to the control of the Taliban.

30 Taliban insurgents, including their commanders, were killed and 10 others were wounded, the statement added.

However, Mohammad Sharif, secretary of the provincial council, said that the district was overrun by the Taliban group during which 150 Afghan soldiers were captured and 50 others were killed.

“The Taliban took control of Qush Tapa district at 10 P.M. local time,” said Mohammad Sharif.

Wahid Wajdan, Jawzjan police chief has confirmed that the contacts with local officials of Qush Tapa district has been cut off. “I neither confirm nor reject the fall of the district at this time.”

On the other hand, the Taliban group told reporters in a message that insurgents took control of the district, killing 10 security forces, and capturing 78 other security forces. The clashes also wounded 25 security forces, according to the Taliban.

Qush Tapa is 70 Km away from the provincial capital of Jawzjan province and the Taliban group were highly active in the province. </s> Image copyright Reuters Image caption Afghan troops keep watch at the base near Mazar-e-Sharif after the attack

More than 100 Afghan soldiers were killed or wounded in a Taliban attack on an army base on Friday, the defence ministry has confirmed.

Fighting lasted for several hours near the city of Mazar-e Sharif in northern Balkh province.

Insurgents targeted those leaving Friday prayers at the base's mosque and others in a canteen, the army said.

The Taliban said in a statement they had carried out the attack, using suicide bombers to breach defences.

Earlier estimates put the death toll as high as 134, but a statement from the defence ministry on Saturday gave the figure of more than 100 killed or injured.

It is one of the deadliest tolls in a Taliban attack on the Afghan army.

At least 10 Taliban militants were also killed in the fighting and one attacker was detained.

The Afghan government has declared Sunday a day of national mourning.

Separately, the US military command in Afghanistan said that Taliban commander Quari Tayib had been killed in a coalition air strike.

It said that Tayib was "once known as the shadow Taliban governor of Takhar province" in the north-east, and was killed along with eight other Taliban fighters in the strike on 17 April.

The Taliban fighters who attacked the base wore army uniforms and drove through checkpoints to launch the raid, a military spokesman said.

One injured soldier, Mohammad Hussain, said: "When I came out of the mosque, three people with army uniforms and an army vehicle started shooting at us. Of course, they had some infiltrators inside the base, otherwise they would never have been able to enter.

"One of them sitting inside a vehicle had set up a machine gun at the car's window and shot everyone in his way."

President Ashraf Ghani flew to the area on Saturday and visited wounded troops.

US military spokesman John Thomas described the attack as a "significant" strike, but he praised Afghan commandos for bringing the "atrocity to an end".

Relatives' anger: Syed Anwar, BBC News, Kabul

Image caption Jan Agah from Jowzjan province lost a nephew in the attack

There are conflicting reports about casualties. The defence ministry confirmed more than 100 soldiers had been "killed or injured" but a security official in Mazar-e Sharif told the BBC that more than 100 had died, including a top military commander.

Relatives of some of the soldiers gathered outside the base to take possession of coffins. They all questioned the security measures in place at the main entrance.

"If strict inspections had taken place, the attackers would not have passed the first gate," said Jan Agah, from Jowzjan province. One of his nephews serving at the base died and another was injured in the attack.

The raid shows the Taliban can plan and carry out complex attacks. The militants said four of the attackers had served as soldiers for a long time and had knowledge of every corner of the base.

The base at Mazar-e-Sharif is home to the Afghan National Army's 209th Corps, responsible for providing security to most of northern Afghanistan, including Kunduz province - which has seen heavy recent fighting.

Several German and other foreign soldiers are reported to be garrisoned there.

Last month about 50 people were reported to have died when militants believed to be from the group known as Islamic State targeted patients and staff at a military hospital in Kabul with guns, grenades and knives.

Also in March the Taliban said they had captured the crucial south Afghan district of Sangin after a year-long battle. </s> (Last Updated On: July 2, 2019)

The Qushtepah district of northern Jawzjan province collapsed to the Taliban militants late on Monday night, a provincial council member claimed.

Mohammad Sharif, a secretary for the provincial council told Ariana News that the insurgents captured the district after several hours of heavy clashes with the Afghan security forces at around 10 pm on Monday.

At least 50 Afghan forces were killed and 150 others including army soldiers and security forces were surrendered to the militants after the district fell to the hand of Taliban, Sharif said.

Meanwhile, security officials said that their connections have been cut off with the district since last night.

However, the Taliban in a statement claimed that their fighters have captured the district, as a result, 10 soldiers have been killed, 25 injured and 78 others were detained by the militants. </s> The Islamist Taliban in northern Afghanistan has captured a strategically important district near the border with Turkmenistan and threatened a provincial capital, killing dozens of Afghan troops in a series of battlefield attacks.

 

 During the past three days, the insurgents stepped up battlefield attacks across the country and have overrun territory and killed more than 80 personnel of the Afghan National Defense and Security Force (ANDSF) being trained and advised by the U.S. military.

 

 Officials said Monday Taliban fighters stormed Khamyab district in Jowzjan province from multiple directions and captured it overnight. Provincial police chief, General Faqir Mohammad, told VOA government forces withdrew from the area to avoid civilian casualties.

 

 The officer declined to discuss casualties among his forces, though reports said the fighting left eight police personnel dead and several others wounded.

 

 Clashes were raging in parts of Khamab and telecommunication services remained suspended since the fighting erupted for the control of the key district, according to members of Jowzjan provincial councils. The fighting is taking place about 170 kilometers north of the provincial capital of Sheberghan.

 

 Separately, the Taliban's a so-called "red unit" commando force stormed police outposts in Dashti-e-Archi area in Kunduz province and killed 18 security forces, Afghan officials said. The attack near the provincial capital, also called Kunduz, wounded 24 police personnel. Kunduz has changed hands several times in the past three years and it remains under pressure from the Taliban.



Intense fighting was also raging in the nearby Sar-e-Pul province where a multi-pronged Taliban offensive late Sunday captured army and police posts around the provincial capital. Clashes were ongoing in the area and the city, also called Sar-e-Pul, could collapse to the Taliban unless reinforcements arrived in time, warned a provincial government spokesman. 

 

 The fighting in Sar-e-Pul and Jowzjan has closed the main highway linking the two northern provinces. Insurgents also killed at least 14 Afghan policemen and wounded six others in a raid on police posts in Dara Suf district of northern Samangan province.

 

 Taliban spokesman, Zabihullah Mujahid, claimed responsibility for attacks in northern provinces,saying they killed more than 100pro-government forces, though the rebel battlefield details are often inflated.

 

 Meanwhile, Afghan and Taliban officials made conflicting claims Monday about who was in control of Dai Mirdad district in the central eastern Maidan Wardak province.

 

 The Taliban assaulted the district a day earlier and killed 13 security forces, including the police chief of Dai Mirdad.

 

 Provincial council members have confirmed the insurgents entered the district center late Sunday following heavy clashes with government forces. Afghan officials, however, denied reports they have lost Dai Mirdad to the Taliban.

 

 The Baghlan-e-Markazi district in another troubled northern Afghan province of Baghlan is also under attack from the Taliban.



Officials confirmed on Sunday that ongoing clashes in the areas killed more than 20 Afghan security forces while more than a dozen army and police checkpoints as well as several surrounding villages have fallen to the Taliban.

 

 The Taliban has held more Afghan territory than at any time since the 2001 U.S. military invasion of the country. The Afghan government currently "controls or influences" around 56 percent of the country while the rest is controlled or hotly contested by the Taliban, according to American military assessments.

 

 While Afghan forces are struggling to combat the Taliban, militants linked to the regional branch of Islamic State, known as Khorasan Province (ISK-P), have also increased attacks, particularly against the country's minority Hazara Shi'ite community, adding to the problems of the Kabul government. IS-plotted suicide bombings, many of them hitting the capital, Kabul, have killed scores of Afghan civilians in recent weeks. </s> Afghan National Army (ANA) soldiers stand to attention during a ceremony at the military base in Herat on July 3, 2016 (AFP Photo/AREF KARIMI)

An air strike has killed an Afghan Taliban commander who twice oversaw the capture of a strategic northern city, officials said Monday, in a major blow to the insurgent group.

Mullah Abdul Salam Akhund, the Taliban shadow governor in Kunduz province, was killed on Sunday when he was holding a meeting in the volatile Dasht-e-Archi district.

"He was killed with five others in the house," said provincial governor Asadullah Amarkhil.

The Taliban acknowledged the death of "the conquerer of Kunduz", saying he was killed in a "cowardly attack by US invaders".

The US-led NATO forces in Afghanistan did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Akhund had led the insurgents to mount several attacks in Kunduz since 2011.

The Taliban seized the provincial capital Kunduz city for about two weeks in September 2015, in their biggest victory since they were toppled from national power by a US-led invasion in 2001.

The militants briefly overran the city again in October last year before they were beaten back by NATO-backed Afghan forces. </s> Kabul: Taliban militants overran large parts of an army base in northern Afghanistan, killing at least 10 soldiers, wounding 15 and capturing dozens more infighting over the past two days, officials said on Tuesday.

The insurgents had captured tanks and ammunition in Chenayeeha army base, in Ghormach district of Faryab province, in an offensive that began on Sunday, according to Mohammad Tahir Rahmani, head of the provincial council. “We have not been able to enter the base. Large parts of the base are still under the Taliban control,” Rahmani said. Rahmani gave the casualty figures, but another provincial official added that the Taliban had captured 40 soldiers, but 30 militants had also been killed in the fighting.

The Taliban attack in the north coincided with clashes in the southeastern province of Ghazni, which lies on the main highway linking Kabul with the south. Hundreds of people have been killed or wounded during clashes there since last week, and hard-pressed Afghan forces received air support from US forces.

Residents who had fled the Ghazni city, the provincial capital, reported that the Taliban had cut telecommunications, electricity and water supplies, hospitals were running out medical supplies, while shops, homes and some government buildings had been destroyed. </s> KABUL (Reuters) - Taliban militants overran large parts of an army base in northern Afghanistan, killing at least 10 soldiers, wounding 15 and capturing dozens more in fighting over the past two days, officials said on Tuesday.

The insurgents had captured tanks and ammunition in Chenayeeha army base, in Ghormach district of Faryab province, in an offensive that began on Sunday, according to Mohammad Tahir Rahmani, head of the provincial council.

“We have not been able to enter the base. Large parts of the base are still under the Taliban control,” Rahmani said.

Rahmani gave the casualty figures, but another provincial official added that the Taliban had captured 40 soldiers, but 30 militants had also been killed in the fighting.

The Taliban attack in the north coincided with clashes in southeastern province of Ghazni, which lies on the main highway linking Kabul with the south.

Hundreds of people have been killed or wounded during clashes there since last week, and hard-pressed Afghan forces received air support from U.S. forces.

Residents who had fled the Ghazni city, the provincial capital, reported that the Taliban had cut telecommunications, electricity and water supplies, hospitals were running out medical supplies, while shops, homes and some government buildings had been destroyed. </s> Taliban fighters overran a northern Afghan army base, officials said Tuesday, killing at least 14 soldiers with dozens feared captured and others said to have fled in the latest blow to the country's security forces.

Militants gained control of the base in Ghormach district of volatile Faryab province after days of heavy fighting, according to army spokesman for northern Afghanistan Mohammad Hanif Rezaee, adding that 100 soldiers were on the base when it was first attacked Sunday.

"It is a tragedy that the base fell to the enemy. Some soldiers were killed, some captured and some fled to nearby hills," Rezaee told AFP.

Faryab MP Hashim Otaq said that 14 soldiers were killed and about 40 others were captured by Taliban fighters in the base, known as Chenaya.

The Taliban victory in Faryab comes days after militants launched a brazen attack on the southeastern Afghan city of Ghazni late Thursday, some two hours drive from the capital Kabul.

Tahir Rehmani -- head of Faryab's provincial council -- said the base fell after the soldiers begged for reinforcements and air support from Kabul but were ultimately ignored.

"They were too busy with Ghazni," said Rehmani.

Afghan security forces, beset by killings, desertions and under intense pressure, have been struggling to beat back insurgents since US-led NATO troops ended their combat mission in December 2014.

The attack on Ghazni is the largest tactical onslaught by the Taliban since an unprecedented truce in June brought fighting between security forces and the Taliban to a brief stop, providing battle-worn Afghans some welcome relief.

The city remains in government hands, officials have said, but the insurgents appeared entrenched there Tuesday, according to residents who said they were burning buildings, killing civilians and firing on security forces conducting a clearing operation. </s> The Taliban has killed more than 20 pro-government forces and captured several security outposts in northern Afghanistan.

 

 The insurgents staged the deadly offensive to try to take control of oil fields in Sayyad district in Sar-e-Pol province, a local government spokesman told VOA Tuesday.

 

 Zabihullah Amani said that Afghan security forces, including police and intelligence operatives, deployed to the facility on the outskirts of the provincial capital, also called Sar-e-Pol, repulsed Monday night's attack by the Taliban.

Amani added that at least 23 Afghan forces were also wounded in several hours of fierce clashes. Senior police commanders and officers of the intelligence agency were said to be among the dead.

A Taliban spokesman claimed government forces lost more than 50 personnel and insurgents overran three security posts in the area. It was not immediately possible to independently verify the claims made by either side and insurgent battlefield details are often inflated.

 

 Insurgents also attacked the Chimtal district in the province late Monday where Afghan officials said fierce battles raged into the next day, but gave not details of casualties. 

 

 The Taliban has inflicted heavy casualties on embattled Afghan military and police forces during 2018 and captured more territory in the process.

 

 An insurgent report issued Monday claimed that the Taliban has brought 61 out of Afghanistan's 407 districts under its control in the previous year. The Afghan government has not offered any reaction to the militant claims

The United States has recently stepped up diplomatic efforts to seek a political resolution to the Afghan war and held several rounds of talks with Taliban representatives in Qatar and the United Arab Emirates.

 

 Officials say the interaction is meant to persuade the Taliban to join a peace process with the Afghan government. But the insurgent group refuses to hold any intra-Afghan dialogue until the U.S. agrees on a date or timeline for pulling out all foreign forces from Afghanistan.
Taliban militants overran the Qush Tepa district of Jowzjan Province, resulting in the deaths of over 50 Afghan soldiers. Many others were captured.