At least 16 security forces got killed in the Taliban’s overnight assaults
in Baghlan, Balkh and Badakhshan provinces, officials said on Tuesday.

Nooria Hamidi, a representative of the people of Baghlan in the Wolesi
Jirga (lower house), told Salam Watandar that eight policemen had been
killed as a result of Taliban attacks on police stations in the center of
Dahan-e-Ghorri district. According to her, in these Taliban attacks that
started last night and continued until this morning, 9 policemen were
wounded and four armored vehicles destroyed.

Criticizing Baghlan security and local officials and the lack of military
equipment, Nooria said if no reinforcements was sent, the area would fall
to the Taliban.

Mohammad Qasim Andar, the district governor, confirmed the Taliban attacks
and killing of the security forces in the district.

Via a statement posted online, the Taliban claimed that eight policemen
had been killed and nine others wounded in the group’s attacks on police
checkpoints in the district.

The district is located a few kilometers from Pul-e-Khumri city, the
capital of Baghlan province. Only eight villages in the district are under
the control of the government and more than 100 other villages are under
Taliban control. More than 30 government forces have been killed and
wounded in clashes with the Taliban in the district since the beginning of
this year.

In Balkh province, Mohammad Hanif Rezaei, a spokesman for the 209th
Shaheen Corps, said that last night the Taliban attacked the Sar-e-Asyab
base in Chamtal district, killing five security personnel and wounding two
others. According to him, 7 Taliban, including a group commander, were
killed and 4 others were wounded in the clash.

The Taliban claimed in a statement that they had killed 11 government
forces and captured five others in the attack.

Meanwhile, residents of the Zibak district of Badakhshan reported that
three members of the security forces had been shot dead by the Taliban.
The bodies of three army soldiers, who were earlier captured by the
Taliban in Warduj district, were found this morning on the border between
Zibak and Warduj, said the locals.

According to them, the Taliban transferred the three security forces from
Warduj to ​​Zibak district this morning and shot them.

The governor of Badakhshan has confirmed the incident. According to a news
release from the Badakhshan governor’s office, the soldiers were members of
the special unit of the army and had recently arrived in Badakhshan from
Paktia and Kandahar provinces to spend their holidays.

The Taliban have not yet commented.