Afghan Taliban attack on military check posts kill at least 30 soldiers
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KABUL — A Taliban assault on two adjacent checkpoints in northern Afghanistan killed at least 30 soldiers and police, officials said Wednesday, as life gradually returned to normal in parts of the eastern city of Ghazni after a massive insurgent attack last week, with sporadic gunbattles still underway in some neighborhoods.
Mohammad Safdar Mohseni, the head of the provincial council in the northern Baghlan province, said the insurgents set fire to the checkpoints after the attack late Tuesday in the Baghlan-I Markazi district.
Dilawar Aymaq, a parliamentarian from Baghlan, confirmed the attack, which targeted a military checkpoint and another manned by the so-called local police, militias recruited and paid by the Interior Ministry.
Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid claimed responsibility for the attack.
Meanwhile, Afghans emerged from their homes and some shops reopened in Ghazni, where the Taliban launched a coordinated offensive last Friday, overwhelming the city’s defenses and capturing several neighborhoods. Afghan forces repelled the initial assault and in recent days have struggled to flush the insurgents out of residential areas where they are holed up.
