Afghanistan: Before Qatar talks Taliban attacks kill 28

KABUL, Afghanistan

A day before peace talks with the Taliban were set to resume in Qatar, at least 28 security forces were killed in coordinated Taliban assaults, Afghan officials confirmed on Saturday.

Umer Zwak, spokesman for the provincial administration in southern Helmand, told Anadolu Agency the Taliban staged a coordinated armed and suicide assault on the Afghan National Army’s Shorab base on Friday. He said all 20 Taliban attackers – including three suicide bombers – were killed, and five soldiers lost their lives in the attack.

The local Pajhwok Afghan News, however, reported a much higher death toll of security forces, 30, from this single incident.

The Taliban on Friday also stormed a joint military and pro-government militia checkpoint in the Faryab province bordering Turkmenistan, and a military convoy in the northern Sar-e-Pul province. According to local officials, 23 security personnel were killed in these assaults.

The attacks came ahead of the resumption of milestone face-to-face Taliban talks with the U.S. in Qatar.

U.S. Envoy for Afghanistan Reconciliation Zalmay Khalilzad said in a series of tweets earlier this week that four issues – withdrawal of foreign troops, no threats of terrorism emerging from Afghanistan in the future, a comprehensive cease-fire, and direct talks between the Taliban and the Afghan government – remain on the table.

The Taliban, however, assert the talks are only focused on the withdrawal of foreign troops and no threats of terrorism emerging from Afghanistan.