KABUL – *24 Afghan defense and security forces including 10 commandos orspecial operation forces were killed after militants attacked theiroutposts in the western Farah province , said local officials.*

Farid Bakhtawar, the provincial council chief told Ariana News that theattack was carried out by militants against Afghan forces overnight inFarahroad area of Balabuluk district.

According to him, 10 Afghan special operation forces and eight policemenwere killed in the attack and three others have been abducted by themilitants.

Meanwhile, six other policemen have been reportedly killed by Taliban inthe capital city of the province.

While the Ministry of Interior did’t comment regarding these casualties butthe Ministry of Defense confirmed the dead of four soldiers in the province.

However officials of Afghan Special Forces Unit confirmed that 10 commandoslost their lives in recent Taliban ambush and four commandos killed twodays ago in Taliban attacks.

The Special Forces Unit further noted that as the aerial support andreinforcement were not made on time the commandos suffered such highfatalities.

Some members of Farah’s provincial council see poor military leadership asthe main motive of such huge looses among Afghan security and defenseforces.

Farah, in the western part of the country, has witnessed a surge ofmilitants in recent months and local security forces have repeatedly askedfor deployment of more security and defense forces to the province.

Around 20 security forces were also killed in a Taliban attack which wascarried out in the same province earlier this month.