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[Published: Monday November 12 2018]

 Afghan elite commandos among casualties in heavy fighting


GHAZNI/HERAT, Afghanistan  12 Nov (ANA) - Dozens of elite commandos were among the casualties suffered by Afghan security forces as the Taliban claimed to have taken a district in Ghazni province, stepping up battlefield pressure while seeking a political settlement with the United States.

Officials said about 25 Afghan commandos were killed in central Ghazni, where the Taliban have been battling militia from the mainly Shi’ite Hazara community in the districts of Malistan and Jaghori, a conflict coloured by hostility between ethnic Hazaras and Pashtuns.

U.S. forces were providing assistance, including intelligence and close air support, a spokeswoman from U.S. military headquarters in Kabul said.

Taliban spokesman Zabiullah Mujahid said Malistan had fallen but local security officials said fighting continued close to the district centre.

“Fresh troops have been sent to Malistan and Jaghori but the people are also cooperating and have stood up against the insurgents,” Army General Chief of Staff, Mohammad Sharif Yaftali, told reporters.

Some commandos had been killed or wounded, he added, but gave no details. However security officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the commandos had been rushed in to unfamiliar territory and ambushed by Taliban fighters, many of whom now regularly use night vision equipment.

Afghanistan’s highly regarded special forces units have suffered increasingly heavy casualties this year as the Taliban have mounted major assaults on provincial centres including Ghazni city and Farah city in the southwest.

At the same time as the Ghazni fighting on Sunday, about 50 police and soldiers were killed around Farah when Taliban fighters attacked checkposts in the city and nearby districts, regional officials said.

U.S. commanders have said they expect the Taliban to step up military efforts to better their position while they maintain contacts with U.S. special envoy Zalmay Khalilzad aimed at opening peace negotiations.

Khalilzad, an Afghan-born former U.S. ambassador to Kabul, met President Ashraf Ghani and other officials at the weekend, in his latest round of meetings following an initial meeting last month with Taliban officials in Qatar.(ANA)
FA/ANA/12 November 2018-------


 

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