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Agencies
Kabul
At least 27 members of the Afghan security forces including a high-ranking police officer have been killed in Taliban attacks in the northern province of Samangan, officials said Tuesday.
The militants attacked and overran several checkpoints at midnight in the district of Lower Dar-e Suf, killing the provincial head of police intelligence, provincial council members Sefatullah Samangani and Mohammad Pazir Baseej said.
A number of police officers fled following the intense fighting and it was not known where they were, the officials said. Taliban militants took at least five off-road~vehicles, three Humvees and one truck of food belonging to security forces, they said.
The attack came two days after Taliban militants attacked a number of police checkpoints in neighbouring Upper Dar-e Suf district, killing at least three police officers, the officials said.
Taliban militants have ramped up attacks on Afghan security forces and government facilities in recent months, leaving Afghan forces thinly stretched throughout the country.
On Sunday, at least 17 Afghan soldiers were killed and 12 others injured when Taliban fighters attacked a small outpost in the western province of Farah, officials said.
Another 15 police were captured along with a large quantity of weapons, vehicles and equipment.
The Taliban also suffered heavy casualties, but there were no exact details.
Munir Ahmad Rahimi, spokesman for Samangan police, confirmed the attack and the death of deputy provincial police chief Khawani Taheri but said seven members of the security forces had been killed.
In the central province of Daikundi, hundreds of Taliban fighters equipped with heavy weapons attacked checkpoints in Kajran district and fought an hours-long battle in which eight Afghan soldiers and five police were killed, Ali Akbar Nateqi, the provincial governor's spokesman said.
The Taliban's main spokesman, Zabihullah Mujahid, claimed responsibility for both attacks.
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17/10/2018
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