Scores of Taliban Killed in Afghanistan Fighting

Afghan Defense Ministry touts crackdown on Taliban

Afghan officials are reporting heavy casualties inflicted against the Taliban in several different provinces, presenting them as a general military crackdown. The fighting happened in provinces that the Taliban were attacking over the weekend.

The Afghan Defense Ministry reported 99 Special Forces operations, and 158 aerial campaigns in support of the fighting. They reported 79 Taliban killed, several more wounded, and four captured.

At least 30 were killed in Paktika Province, where the heaviest fighting took place. 14 were killed in Farah Province, 25 more killed in airstrikes in the southeast, and another 10 killed in various other operations across 12 provinces.

The talk of successful military crackdowns echoes what they reported last week, and in both cases, it’s pretty clear what happened, as the “crackdowns” came after several days of Taliban gains in the exact same provinces, which generally happened with reports of substantial Afghan security force casualties and no word on Taliban losses.

Instead of turning the tables on the Taliban, they’re just catching up on casualties from the ongoing fighting. There is little sign that Afghan forces are retaking any of the checkpoints they lost over the weekend.

Author: Jason Ditz

Jason Ditz is Senior Editor for Antiwar.com. He has 20 years of experience in foreign policy research and his work has appeared in The American Conservative, Responsible Statecraft, Forbes, Toronto Star, Minneapolis Star-Tribune, Providence Journal, Washington Times, and the Detroit Free Press.