TALIBAN KILLS DOZENS SOLDIERS IN SERIES OF ATTACKS IN EASTERN AND SOUTHERN AFGHANISTAN

A photo of the Taliban special forces with western weapons.

On January 31, Taliban fighters attacked a joint position of the Afghan Army and the NATO around the city of Mehtarlam, the capital of the eastern Laghman province, according to the Taliban news agency Voice of Jihad.

The agency said that seven Afghan soldiers were killed and five armored vehicles of the Afghan Army were destroyed by Taliban fighters.

Taliban fighters also killed five Afghan soldiers and injured six others during a series of hit and run attacks on several checkpoints of the Afghan Army and Police in the district of Alishang in the province of Laghman.

The Voice of Jihad also reported that Taliban fighters ambushed a convoy of the Afghan Army in Shalgar district of Ghazni province, also in eastern Afghanistan, on February 1. Twelve Afghan Army soldiers were reportedly killed and nine others were injured in the attack. Taliban fighters also destroyed four armored vehicles of the Afghan Army, according to the source.

Additionally, the Taliban claimed that its fighters conducted a pre-emptive attack against several units of the Afghan Army that were about to launch a NATO-backed attack around the Band Taimore area of Maiwand district in the southern province of Kandahar on February 1.

Taliban fighters managed to kill fourteen Afghan soldiers and destroyed three armored vehicles of the Afghan Army during this pre-emptive attack. As a result, the Afghan Army units withdrew from their offensive positions around the Band Taimore area, according to the Voice of Jihad.

Such successful rapid attacks are usually conducted by the Taliban’s special forces which are known as the “Red Units”. While Afghan officials claim that these special units are receiving support from Pakistan and even Russia, in reality these units rely on US-made weapons that the Taliban capture or even buy from the Afghan Army.

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