Taliban forces today overran multiple military checkpoints in Afghanistan’s far northeastern Badakhshan Province, killing at least 18, and potential several more as 12 remain unaccounted for.
Among the 18 killed, the Taliban beheaded eight of the Afghan soldiers. Troops lost control of the checkpoints for part of the day, but reinforcements from Kabul retook them.
Officials reported that some 200 Taliban fighters were involved in the attack, an unusually large operation far afield from the Taliban’s traditional strongholds across the south.
Afghan officials expressed hope they would recover some of the missing soldiers, speculating they may have fled as opposed to getting captured when the Taliban surged in.