While this weekend saw the first direct Afghan government talks with the Taliban, it was also violent in other parts of the country, as local officials reported over 40 Afghan security forces were slain in what were believed to be Taliban attacks.
Details are still emerging, but with attacks in Kapisa, Nerjab, Kunduz, Baghlan, and Zabul, checkpoints were hit across the country. Some officials claimed as many as 60 security forces were killed in the fighting.
Taliban officials haven’t specifically commented on the matter, but they had previously justified those attacks because the government didn’t fulfill promises on prisoner release. That may be changing now that the two sides have discussed those releases.
Since the prisoner release talks were presumably planned ahead of time, this surge in attacks may have been done as a bargaining tool, with the Taliban trying to emphasize how willing they are to carry out further strikes if they don’t get what they want.
Skip to content
Original and up-to-date news