Afghanistan: Taliban attack on army checkpoint in eastern Laghman kills six, five wounded

Afghanistan's Defence Ministry reportedly said on May 11 that at least six soldiers were killed and five wounded in a Taliban attack at an Afghan army checkpoint in eastern Laghman. According to the reports, the insurgents claimed responsibility for the attack which occurred on Sunday night, just days after US special envoy in new talks with the Taliban to sign an accord aimed at ending fighting in the war-torn country. The statement from the Afghan defense ministry reportedly said that the troops repelled the attackers and added that the Taliban fighters also suffered injuries but they did not reveal the exact figures. 

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In a separate incident, four bombs were placed,  one placed under a garbage bin, and the other three by the side of the road, exploded in northern Kabul on May 11 wounding four civilians, including a child, according to the reports. Kabul police spokesman Ferdaws Faramarz, reportedly said that the roadside bombs were spaced within 10-20 meters of one another. 

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NATO mission

Meanwhile, NATO’s US-led mission in Afghanistan is withholding key information about Taliban attacks, a US government watchdog said. The watchdog, named Resolute Support mission (RS) reportedly added that this would make possible insights into the war harder for the public. Previously, RS had disclosed data on the ‘enemy initiated attacks” in Afghanistan providing one of the few existing public metrics into the conflict as well as the strength of the Taliban.

In its quarterly report released on May 1, the office of Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction said RS has stopped proving numbers of the number of attacks, instead, it only gave a short statement that Taliban has increased its attacks in the month of March. This came right after US snd Taliban signed a deal to establish peace in the region. The US military, as per the deal agreement, was supposed to leave Afghanistan within 14 months if the Taliban upholds its commitments that the Afghan territory will not be used for terror activities to target the US and its allies. However, soon after the Taliban launched an offensive and US retaliated, eventually escalating violence in Afghanistan. 

READ: Watchdog Group Says US Not Releasing Data On Taliban Attacks

READ: NATO Mission In Afghanistan Withholding Information About Taliban Attacks: US Watchdog

(Image Credit: AP)