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Afghanistan
Taliban militants kill 19 Afghan soldiers in remote province
2014-02-24
KABUL -- More than 100 Taliban terrorists fighters overran an Afghan army base Sunday, killing at least 19 soldiers in the bloodiest attack on the countryÂ’s armed forces in many months.

In SundayÂ’s assault, a mass of terrorists insurgents surrounded a small base in the remote Ghaziabad district of Konar province early in the morning, according to Gen. Abdul Habib, KonarÂ’s police chief. He said the terrorists militants were carrying guns and rocket-propelled grenades.

“It was a savage attack by the enemies of Afghanistan,” Habib said.

As of Sunday afternoon, Afghan forces had retaken the outpost.

Winter is typically a time of relative peace in Afghanistan, when Taliban terrorist leaders return to Pakistan. But this year, the terrorists insurgency appears to have stepped up its attacks in an effort to disrupt presidential elections scheduled for April. Ghaziabad, along the Afghan-Pakistani border, is one of the countryÂ’s most restive districts and is thought to be home to several al-Qaeda terrorists fighters.

Small Afghan army outposts in southern and eastern Afghanistan have always been vulnerable to large-scale Taliban terrorist attacks, particularly as the U.S. military has reduced its presence. Still, bloody terrorist strikes of this scale, in which the Taliban is able to successfully overrun an outpost, ­have been rare.

In a sign of the attack’s importance, Afghan President Hamid Karzai postponed an official trip to Sri Lanka. In a statement condemning the raid, Karzai’s palace asked Pakistan’s leadership to “realistically and seriously” cooperate with Afghanistan in the fight against terrorism militancy.

The strike in Konar came “amid preparations by security forces for launching an attack to clear the Taliban terrorist threat from the area,” said Col. Bahwul Khan, a police officer in the province.

In addition to the 19 dead, three Afghan soldiers are missing. “We do not know whether they have fled or have helped the Taliban to launch the attack,” Habib said.
Get me my ouija board and let me guess...
Posted by:Steve White

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