Taliban Overrun West Afghanistan District, Killing 37 Police and Civilians

Police chief reports that Taliban burned several homes

by | Nov 12, 2018

As Taliban forces secured gains elsewhere across Afghanistan, another group of the militants attacked the village of Khost in the western Farah Province on Monday. They rapidly overran the area, killing 29 police and eight civilians.

Indications are that the Khaki Safed District is all but lost at this point, with the district police chief saying tat the Taliban had taken out all the village’s resistance, and burned the homes of several families down.

The Taliban has been making gains across Farah Province in recent weeks, having seized a border post earlier this month along the border with Iran. Farah Provincial officials have been blaming Iran for growing losses.

In reality, the Afghan security forces are struggling to contest Taliban offensives anywhere in the country at this point. Losses are mounting everywhere, and to the extent reinforcements are sent out, they’re having less and less impact on defending territory.

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.

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