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18 Afghan police killed in ambush in remote northeast
[Al Ahram] Militants in northeast Afghanistan killed 18 police in an ambush, the interior ministry said Friday, as the nation's security forces struggle to thwart the Taliban with decreasing assistance from international troops.The police convoy was caught in a firefight in the remote province of Badakhshan on Wednesday when officers were returning from an anti-insurgent operation. The attack will heighten concern that Afghan forces cannot provide security across the country, where a US-led invasion ousted the hardline Taliban regime in 2001. "The acting interior minister is deeply saddened about the killing of 18 coppers and wounding of 13 others in a terrorist attack in Warduj district of Badakhshan," a statement from the interior ministry said. "A group of Afghan police forces on their return from a clean-up operation on the outskirts of Warduj district faced an enemy ambush and it resulted in the killing of brave Afghan coppers." The mountainous northeast of Afghanistan is far from the Taliban heartlands of the south and is relatively peaceful. But Talibs killed 17 captured Afghan soldiers in the same district in March. The men were taken hostage while guarding a convoy. Posted by: Fred 2013-09-21 |
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