KABUL – Taliban fighters killed more than 20 Afghan security forces insimultaneous raids on a provincial capital and district in northernAfghanistan, an official said on Tuesday, as the city braced for furtherviolence.
Hundreds of militants were outside Sar-e-Pul city, which provincialgovernor spokesperson Zabihullah Amani said was at risk of falling to theTaliban if reinforcements were not sent.
The Taliban have stepped up attacks on security forces across the country,slaughtering police and soldiers in record numbers, as the threat of a USdrawdown complicates American-led efforts to end the 17-year conflict.
“The enemy is still amassing forces outside the city,” Amani told *AFP*.
“We have deployed all the forces available in the city, but noreinforcements have arrived from outside so far.
“The people inside the city are very worried.”
Taliban fighters launched the attacks on Sar-e-Pul and neighbouring Sayaddistrict on Monday night, which Amani said were aimed at seizing control ofseveral oil wells on the outskirts of the city.
At least 21 local forces, including police and intelligence, were killedand another 23 wounded in the attacks, Amani said.
“They have attacked the city many times in the past, but this time thethreat is more serious,” he said.
A security official, who spoke to *AFP* on the condition of anonymity, putthe death toll slightly lower at between 15 and 20 members of local forces.
Kabul-based interior ministry deputy spokesperson Nasrat Rahimi confirmedthere had been casualties, but would not provide details.
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He said reinforcements had been deployed to Sar-e-Pul and dismissedconcerns that the provincial capital was at risk of falling to theinsurgents.
The Taliban confirmed the attacks, saying their fighters had captured threecheckpoints and killed or wounded 50 members of the security forces.
Afghanistan’s largest militant group made significant territorial gains in2018, including overrunning Ghazni city — a few hours’ drive from Kabul —which they held for several days before being pushed back with the help ofUS airpower.
At the time, officials said Ghazni remained in government hands. Butresidents told *AFP* that the insurgents were in the streets, burningbuildings and targeting civilians.
The Taliban’s increased aggression on the battlefield coincided with aflurry of diplomatic efforts aimed at bringing the group to the negotiatingtable.
In recent days, Taliban representatives have met with Iran, as Tehran makesa more concerted and open push for peace ahead of a possible US drawdown.
The Taliban delegation discussed with Iran “the post-occupation situation,restoration of peace and security in Afghanistan and the region”, themilitants said in a statement posted on social media and emailed tojournalists on Tuesday.
It signals growing confidence among the Taliban that US troops will pullout of Afghanistan, after US officials last month told various mediaoutlets that President Donald Trump had decided to slash the number ofboots on the ground.
