At Least 70 Taliban, 40 Afghan Soldiers Killed

While intra-Afghan talks still try to settle on a ceasefire, the violence across Afghanistan remains troublingly high, with Afghan officials claiming they’d killed at least 70 Taliban in the last 24 hours, centered on Kandahar Province.

The Taliban, for their part, hit a major commando base in Ghazni, killing at least 40 soldiers. A second Taliban bombing went after a provincial official in Zabul, killing at least three and injuring dozens of others. Another attack in Kabul wounded seven.

The Zabul attack was aimed at the provincial council chief, who was apparently wounded. One of his bodyguards was among those slain. The Taliban did not take credit for this attack specifically, though it seems relatively certain it was them.

Both sides keep plugging away at the Doha talks, but violence remains concerningly high, and neither side seems to be willing to make the compromises needed to get the ceasefire in place and start negotiating peace in earnest.