KABUL – At least 18 Afghan soldiers were killed in a Taliban attack on a military base in Kandahar province of Afghanistan, according to media reports on Friday.Five others were injured in the assault on the facility in Shah Wali Kot district, defence ministry spokesman Dawlat Wazir said.The attack comes four days after 10 Afghan soldiers were killed when Taliban militants stormed another base in the same area.The attacks in Kandahar follow raids on police outposts in central the central Zabul province on Sunday, which left at least 20 officers dead.The Taliban is believed to control up to a third of Afghanistan, after gaining ground in the past two years. At least 18 service members of the Afghan National Amy (ANA) were killed, 16 wounded and four others were taken away by the Taliban after a group of fighters of the group attacked an army base in Shah Wali Kot district in southern Kandahar province on Thursday night, a security source said on Friday. Dawlat Waziri, a spokesman for the Afghan Defense Ministry, said on Friday that the militants “launched a coordinated assault on an army base last night (Thursday) in the Shah Wali Kot district of Kandahar province.”

“Fifteen Afghan army soldiers were martyred and five others wounded,” he added.
Taliban militants attack an Afghan National Army base in Shah Wali Kot District, Kandahar Province, killing at least 15 soldiers.