Published 13:02 IST, December 23rd 2019
Taliban claims responsibility for attack that killed US soldier in Afghanistan
The Taliban have claimed responsibility for the attack on a US convoy that left one US soldier dead. This latest attack could derail peace talks between them.
The Taliban have claimed responsibility for the attack on an American convoy that left one US Soldier dead and several injured. The statement was released on Monday and is likely to have a grave impact on the ongoing talks between the United States and the Taliban.
Trump previosuly declared negotiations dead
US President Donald Trump had already declared the negotiations between the US and Taliban dead after a bombing in a US airbase north of Kabul. That bombing had claimed the life of one US soldier as well. After the Kabul bombings, the talks have restarted in Doha.
The Americans have yet to release any further information. While contacting the local media through WhatsApp, a Taliban spokesperson said that the Taliban blew up an American vehicle in Char Dara district of Kunduz. This latest death brings the total of American servicemen killed in service in Afghanistan to 20. This mould make 2019 the deadliest year for the US since 2014. Over 2,000 American soldiers have been killed in Afghanistan since the US-led invasion in October 2001.
In similar news, USS Senator Lindsay Graham has said that the war in Afghanistan would end in few weeks if Pakistan denied the Taliban safe haven in its territory, a top US Senator has said. Senator Lindsay Graham said that the US should negotiate with Pakistan instead of the Taliban to see an end to the war in Afghanistan.
Just a week ago at least six tribal elders have been abducted by the Taliban in Northern Afghanistan. The governor's spokesperson while talking to local media said that the six tribal elders were abducted while they were travelling on the Jowzjan-Balkh highway.
On December 4 in an attack in Jalalabad city in the eastern province of Nangarhar, five Afghans were killed and a Japanese physician and aid worker were wounded Tetsu Nakamura, the doctor who heads the Peace Japan Medical Services known as Peshawar Kai in Japanese was targeted by the gunmen who were heading towards Jalalabad in a vehicle. Nakamura was seriously wounded and was reported to be in critical condition immediately after the attack.
He underwent surgery at a local hospital but died of shortly after while being airlifted to the Bagram airfield hospital in the capital, Kabul, for further treatment, said Gulzada Sanger, the hospital spokesman. The Nangarhar governor, Shah Mahmood Meyakhail, expressed his condolences, saying that the people of the province were all saddened over Nakamura’s death and remain thankful for the services the Japanese physician provided for them for over a decade.
Updated 13:31 IST, December 23rd 2019