*GHAZNI: The Taliban intensified attacks in a district heavily populated byminority Hazaras Sunday, as US envoy Zalmay Khalilzad returned to theregion as part of efforts to convince the group to end the 17-year war.*
In pre-dawn fighting in Jaghori district in the southeastern province ofGhazni, militants killed 15 civilians and 10 members of Afghanistan’s elitespecial forces, provincial police spokesman Ahmad Khan Sirat told AFP.
Another six special forces and eight civilians were wounded, Sirat added.
The information could not be immediately verified by another source in theprovince where telecommunications are poor. A spokesman for the Afghandefence ministry in Kabul would not answer his phone.
Taliban spokesman Zabiullah Mujahid said in a WhatsApp message that 22Afghan commandos had been killed and “a large number” wounded.
Fighting in the district has been ongoing since Wednesday.
Kabul deployed special forces to the area on Thursday to reinforce localHazara pro-government fighters, as the Taliban denied targeting “anyspecific race, ethnicity or sect.”
The flare up in violence coincided with the return of Khalilzad toAfghanistan as he seeks to coordinate regional efforts to bring about peacein the war-torn country.
Khalilzad met with President Ashraf Ghani on Saturday. The former USambassador to Kabul also will visit Pakistan, United Arab Emirates andQatar, where the Taliban have a political office.
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A Taliban delegation met with Khalilzad in Doha in October to discussending the Afghan conflict.
That was followed by a Russia-led international gathering in Moscow onFriday that included Taliban representatives.
The Afghan government boycotted the meeting, but the country’s High PeaceCouncil, which is responsible for reconciliation efforts with themilitants, sent a delegation.
The flurry of diplomatic efforts to kickstart peace talks comes as theTaliban make gains on the battlefield and cause record-high casualtiesamong security forces.
A recent US government watchdog report said Kabul’s control of Afghanistanhad slipped in recent months as local forces made little or no progressagainst the Taliban.
In a grim assessment of the war, the US Special Inspector General forAfghanistan Reconstruction (SIGAR) cited NATO’s Resolute Support mission assaying this summer’s casualty toll for Afghan forces had been worse thanever. -APP/AFP
