Afghanistan: Suicide bombing kills 6 soldiers in Balkh province

A suicide car bombing that targeted an Afghan army campaign killed six Afghan soldiers on December 26. According to the defence ministry, the car bomb was extremely powerful and targeted an Afghan base in the north of the country. The Taliban has quickly claimed responsibility for the attack.

Soldiers wounded in attack

The bomb that was detonated outside the base was followed by a group of insurgents who attempted to storm the military base in the Balkh province. According to a statement released by the defence ministry, three soldiers were also wounded in the explosion and the subsequent terrorist attack. Both forces exchanged fire for hours before the Taliban were successfully repelled.

But according to a tweet by Taliban spokesman Zabiullah Mujahid, the Taliban inflicted much greater casualties than reported and even took over certain parts of the base whereby they were able to seize weapons and ammunition. The Afghan defence ministry has refuted these claims. Lately, the Taliban has been active in the Balk region. The terrorist group controls half of Afghanistan and has been conducting near-daily attacks against Afghan and US forces.

Earlier, two separate explosions in Afghanistan's eastern province of Paktia on December 25 killed an Afghan soldier and injured two others. A spokesperson for the provincial police, Sardar Wali Tabasam said that one border guard died and another was injured when they were hit by a blast while patrolling the Nozy Khwali area of the Samkani district in the morning. Another bomb went off targetting the security forces in the Khairmani area of the Ariub Zazi district and injured one more police official. No group has claimed responsibility of the blasts yet.

Read: Afghanistan: Two Separate Blasts Kill One Afghan Soldier, Injures Two

Read: Remains Of US Soldier Killed In Afghanistan Returned To US

Earlier this month in two separate blasts, 10 people were killed and 17 were left wounded on December 17. Nearly 10 members of the same family died when their car detonated a roadside bomb in Khost province while travelling to a funeral in eastern Afghanistan.

In addendum to that, a Japanese doctor Tetsu Nakamura was killed in an attack by unidentified gunmen on December 4. Dr Nakamura’s remains were sent back to Japan after a ceremony, attended by Afghanistan President Ashraf Ghani, was held at Kabul airport. During the address at the ceremony, Ghani called the Japanese aid worked a ‘hero’  and announced that all projects Dr Nakamura worked on, complete or incomplete, will be named after him.  

Read: Afghan Official Says Taliban Abducted 26 Peace Activists

Read: PM Modi To Ashraf Ghani: 'India Will Always Support Afghanistan For Developmental Needs'