Afghan Forces Break Dozens of Taliban Fighters Following Fracture in Peace Talks

A delegation comprising the navy, provincial police and the Kandahar governor accumulate been also investigating allegations from local residents that govt airstrikes had killed civilians in Arghandab district, the ministry said. The Taliban said 13 civilians had been killed in an airstrike, whereas a spokesman for the provincial governor said seven civilians had died after the Taliban detonated explosives laden into a Humvee.

Col. Sonny Leggett,

spokesman for U.S. forces in Afghanistan, said in a press launch that the U.S. had performed a strike in opposition to the Taliban in toughen of Afghan forces in a diverse district, adding that the Taliban claim of civilian casualties became faux.

A video filmed by a neighborhood resident in Arghandab, and reviewed by The Wall Avenue Journal, showed the our bodies of 11 of us, including no no longer as much as seven youth.

The allegations of civilian casualties precipitated protests Sunday by Arghandab residents, who transported the our bodies of their killed relations alongside the avenue to Kandahar metropolis.

The alleged civilian casualties add to concerns amongst Afghans that the government forces will more than likely be incapable of staving off the Taliban as U.S. forces continue their withdrawal from The usa’s longest battle.

A serious Taliban offensive in October in opposition to the embattled provincial capital of Helmand became averted fully with aid from American airstrikes. Correct thru the battle, two Afghan air pressure helicopters collided midair, killing 9 soldiers.

Saturday’s govt counterattack in opposition to the Taliban in Kandahar came hours after the 2 sides’ delegations in Doha launched they would get a wreck in peace talks until early January, after reaching a compromise on procedural disagreements that had deadlocked discussions earlier than they had begun in earnest. The Taliban and Afghan delegations are able to roar referring to the agenda for when talks resume.

The Afghan govt launched the first-ever peace talks with the insurgents in the Qatari capital in September, following an accord in February between the Taliban and the U.S., which fervent a phased withdrawal of roughly 12,000 American troops silent in Afghanistan.

In return, the Taliban dedicated to participating in peace talks with the Kabul govt and to pause al Qaeda and diverse international scare groups from running out of Afghanistan.

For the explanation that accord, the U.S. has drawn down its forces to about 4,500 troops. The Pentagon final month launched plans to in the reduction of the amount of troops to about 2,500 earlier than Inauguration Day.

As half of its negotiations with the Trump administration, the Taliban also reached an thought to very much in the reduction of violence, according to Western officers. But Afghan security officers accuse the Taliban of the use of a U.S. suspension in airstrikes to push its advantage on the battlefield, surrounding govt bases and seizing highways.

Despite a bright expand in the amount of Taliban assaults all the plot thru the country, the amount of civilian casualties from January to September of this 365 days reduced by 30% compared with the identical length final 365 days—to roughly 6,000, including 2,117 deaths—according to the United Countries.

The drop in casualties is primarily attributable to fewer trim-scale suicide assaults in populated areas by antigovernment groups, and a advance-pause in U.S. airstrikes, which over the path of the battle accumulate killed ratings of civilians, according to the U.N.

Write to Sune Engel Rasmussen at [email protected]