GHAZNI: The Taliban have killed nine Afghan soldiers in an insider attackin central Afghanistan, the military said on Saturday, underscoring thedangers Afghan forces face from within their own ranks.
The Afghan National Army troops “were martyred by Taliban terrorists inQarabagh district of Ghazni province” on Friday night, the Afghan defenceministry said on Twitter.
Defence ministry spokesman Fawad Aman later told AFP the troops had beenkilled by Taliban infiltrators.
Such attacks, sometimes referred to as “green on green,” are a constantthreat in the war-torn country for international and Afghan forces alike.
Aman denied a report from a member of Ghazni’s provincial council that 23Afghan security forces had been killed.
The Taliban, meanwhile, claimed they had overrun an “enemy base” in theQarabagh district of Ghazni province and killed dozens of security forces.
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Friday’s attack underscores the ongoing dangers Afghan and allied forcesface from Taliban fighters pretending to be loyal to the government.
On July 29, an Afghan soldier killed two US troops as they were visiting anAfghan army base in Kandahar.
That came two weeks after another Afghan soldier shot and killed aninfluential Afghan army colonel while he was conducting a securityassessment in Ghazni province.
The continued violence comes as the US and the Taliban hold on-again,off-again talks aimed at ending America´s longest war. -APP/AFP
