TALIBAN CAPTURES SEVERAL BASES OF AFGHAN ARMY, POLICE AND INTELLIGENCE IN CENTRAL AFGHANISTAN

Taliban fighters during “Operation al-Khandagh”

On May 18, Taliban fighters attacked and captured a key base of the Afghan Army in the Gograk area of the Tarinkot district, the capital of the central province of Urozgan, according to the Taliban news agency Voice of Jihad. The source claimed that Taliban fighters had killed eleven Afghan soldiers and had destroyed an armored vehicle of the Afghan Army during their attack on the base.

The Voice of Jihad also reported that the Taliban had captured an Afghan Police station and two centers of the Afghan National Directorate of Security (NDS) after a limited attack in the district of Khas Urozgan in Urozgan province.

An Afghan official told KPVI News TV that only two Afghan policemen had been killed during the clashes in Urozgan province. The source didn’t provide any details about the Taliban loses.

The Taliban said that the two attacks in the districts of Tarinkot and Khas Urozgan had been a part of its spring offensive, codenamed “Operation al-Khandagh”, which was launched on April 25. According to the Taliban, the offensive is a response to Washington’s decision to increase the US military presence in Afghanistan.

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