Dozens of Taliban fighters aided by foreign militants seized Afghan government checkpoints in a previously stable northeastern province, officials said on Monday as the annual spring fighting season began in the 13-year-old war. Reuters report:
Afghan officials said government forces later took back the district of Jorm in Badakhshan province but said they need reinforcements from the central government in Kabul. Fighting intensifies each spring as snows that make mountainous areas impassable melt, allowing greater movement of fighters and weapons.
Fighting this year is being closely watched after the end of NATO forces’ combat mission left Afghanistan’s army and police to fight the resurgent Taliban on their own.
The battle in Badakhshan killed at least 18 Afghan police and soldiers, eight of them beheaded, and left 10 wounded. At least 10 more are missing, Nawid Frotan, a spokesman for the Badakhshan governor said.
“The situation is under control right now, but Taliban who fled to nearby mountains sporadically open fire on our security forces,” he said. He said 19 militants were killed, 11 of them Afghan Taliban and eight classified as unidentified foreign militants.
