Taliban attack Afghan army posts, kill 13 troops
The Taliban targeted military posts in two western Afghan provinces and in the country's south, killing 13 soldiers and setting off hours-long gunbattles with the military, officials said Wednesday.
In one attack, in western Farah province, the insurgents stormed a security post, killing nine troops and wounding four. The attack took place on Tuesday night in Pusht Road district, said spokesman Mohammad Naser Mehri.
An intense, four-hour gunbattle followed in which the militants used artillery against the army, Mehri said. Afghan warplanes were deployed and 17 Taliban fighters were killed, he added.
The second attack took place in neighboring Herat province, also Tuesday night, at an army post in Kushki Kuhna district where two soldiers died and five were wounded, according to Najibullah Najibi, the military spokesman in Herat.
The attack lasted several hours until the army pushed back the Taliban, Najibi said. He added that the Taliban suffered "heavy casualties" but did not provide a figure.
