Militants attack Afghan army camp killing 22 soldiers

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At least 22 Afghan soldiers were killed in a massive Taliban attack on an army camp in the country's western Farah province overnight, Xinhua reported on Saturday citing a local official.

In a separate attack in Kabul, a suicide bomber killed one person and wounded six others.

"Militants numbered [in the] hundreds attacked an army camp in Kanesk area of Bala Buluk district Friday night. The army soldiers fought back the attackers but some 22 soldiers lost their lives after the fighting," Naser Mehri, spokesman of the provincial government said.

Several militants were also killed and wounded during the gun battle, but their number could not be specified as the militants evacuated their casualties, he said.

Afghan police officers keep watch at a car bomb attack site in Kabul, Afghanistan January 27, 2018. /VCG Photo

Additional forces were dispatched to the district after the clashes, he added.

The bomb attack in Kabul on Saturday was the latest in a spate of attacks in the city in which hundreds of people have been killed and wounded.

The capital has been on high alert since a Taliban suicide bomber blew up an explosive-packed ambulance on a busy street on January 27, killing more than 100 people and wounding at least 235.

A week earlier, militants killed more than 20 people, including four Americans, in an attack on one of the city’s top hotels. The Taliban claimed that attack too.

On Saturday, a bomber blew himself up on a road near the headquarters of Afghanistan’s NATO-led mission. The identity of the casualties was not known, said Interior Ministry spokesman Najib Danish.

ISIL claimed responsibility in a message on their Amaq news agency.

Afghan security forces keep watch at a check point near the site of a suicide attack in Kabul, Afghanistan February 24, 2018. /VCG Photo

ISIL’s Afghan affiliate, which first appeared near the border with Pakistan in 2015, has become increasingly active and has claimed several recent attacks.

The government is under growing public pressure to set aside rivalries and improve security.

President Ashaf Ghani has approved a new security plan for Kabul but it was not clear what steps could be taken in the city of five million people, which already has numerous checkpoints and vehicle restrictions.

Also on Saturday, at least one civilian was killed and eight others were wounded when a suicide bomber detonated a car-bomb in Lashkar Gah, the capital of the southern province of Helmand, said Omar Zwak, a spokesman for the provincial governor.

The Taliban, fighting to drive out foreign troops and re-establish their form of strict Islamic law, claimed responsibility.

In another attack in the province, a suicide bomber targeted an Afghan army post killing two soldiers and wounding one, Zwak said.

(Top image: File photo)

Source(s): Reuters ,Xinhua News Agency