Taliban steps up attacks, killing or injuring over 400 Afghan forces in a week

Afghanistan’s interior ministry said the Taliban carried out 222 attacks against security forces in the last week alone

This comes after the government and Taliban signalled that they were getting closer to launching much delayed peace talks

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Afghan police arrive at the site of an explosion in a mosque in Kabul on Friday, causing multiple deaths and injuries, as the Taliban ramps up violence in the country. Photo: AP

Published: 10:30pm, 14 Jun 2020Updated: 11:21pm, 14 Jun 2020

The Taliban have killed or wounded more than 400 Afghan security personnel over the past week, the interior ministry said on Sunday, accusing the insurgents of increasing attacks ahead of expected peace talks.

Violence had dropped across much of Afghanistan since the Taliban announced a three-day ceasefire on May 24 to mark the Eid al-Fitr holiday, but officials have accused the insurgents of stepping up attacks in recent days.

“In the past one week, the Taliban carried out 222 attacks against the Afghan security forces, resulting in the death and injury of 422” personnel, interior ministry spokesman Tareq Arian said at a press conference.

A boy who was injured in a rocket attack receives medical treatment at a hospital in Herat, Afghanistan. Photo: EPA-EFE

He also accused the Taliban of targeting religious scholars in a bid to put “psychological pressure” on the Afghan government.

Bomb attacks on Kabul mosques that killed two prayer leaders this month were the work of the insurgents, Arian claimed.

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