Taliban attack kills 14 Afghan soldiers after a three-day ceasefire ended.

Taliban attack kills 14 Afghan soldiers  after a three-day ceasefire on Eid-Ul-Fitr ended.

Taliban

Washington : At least 14 Afghan security personnel have been killed and several others injured in a Taliban attack on Afghan border posts in the Dande Pattan area of ​​Paktia Province, Afghanistan. The Taliban has claimed responsibility for the attack.

The Afghan Defense Ministry said in a statement that the retaliation had also inflicted heavy casualties on the Taliban and repulsed the attack.

Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said two of their members had been killed, while the Taliban had captured a security official.

Earlier this week, 14 people were killed in attacks in the northern province of Parwan and the western province of Farah.

Such attacks come at a time of sluggish prisoner exchanges between the Afghan Government and the Taliban. This is the first time the Taliban has claimed responsibility for an attack on Afghan security forces after a three-day ceasefire on Eid-al-Fitr.

Meanwhile, Afghan National Security Council spokesman Javed Faisal said the ceasefire was continuing despite sporadic attacks. And Doha-based Taliban spokesman Sohail Shaheen said the Taliban had released 80 Afghan security forces, prisoners, on Thursday.

The UN Security Council, the United States, and the Taliban were expected to vote on Friday (May 29) on lifting sanctions on the Taliban under an agreement reached in Doha, Qatar, on February 29 this year. But Russia's special envoy to Afghanistan, Zamir Kabulov, said the matter would not be referred to the Security Council for the time being, as he said some of the terms of the Doha agreement were yet to be implemented.

In an interview with Turkey's Anatolia News Agency, Zamir Kabulov said sanctions against the Taliban should have been lifted before May 29, if inter-Afghan talks had begun on March 10 after a prisoner exchange between the Afghan government and the Taliban. Gone, but it hasn't happened yet.

Meanwhile, President Donald Trump on Wednesday reiterated the imminent withdrawal of US troops from Afghanistan. He said it was also essential to see what was happening in Afghanistan. President Trump added that, if necessary, action would be taken that had never been taken before.

Speaking to reporters on Tuesday, President Trump said the number of troops in Afghanistan would be immediately reduced to 7,000.

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