For the third time in recent weeks, the 215 Malwand Corps in
Afghanistan’s Helmand Province came under attack on Friday. Fighting
raged throughout the day, with at least 25 soldiers killed, and nine Taliban attackers reported slain so far.
Many of the casualties appear to have happened inside the dining hall at
the base, where three Taliban suicide bombers detonated during the
attack. Six other Taliban gunmen were killed, and the rest were believed
to have fled.
Afghan officials say that as of Friday night, the operation is still
ongoing, and even though they believe they’ve repelled all of the
attackers, they are still carrying out clearing operations in the base
to make sure they didn’t leave any explosives behind.
This base continues to get hit, as do several other
bases around Helmand, as the Taliban looks to continue to amass gains
in the area. The Taliban controls much of the province, which is
valuable for opium smuggling.
Taliban Overrun South Afghan Military Base, Killing 25 Soldiers
Suicide bombers detonated in dining hall
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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