Taliban checkpoint assault kills 19 soldiers

Taliban insurgents assaulted a checkpoint in eastern Afghanistan on Sunday, leaving 19 soldiers dead and seven missing, officials said. It was the deadliest single incident for the Afghan army in at least a year.

Gen. Mohammad Zahir Azimi, who is spokesman for the Defense Ministry, said there were "hundreds" of foreign and Afghan insurgents involved in the attack, which took place in the Ghazi Abad district of Kunar Province in the early morning hours.

He confirmed that 19 soldiers were dead and two injured following a four-hour gunbattle between the insurgents and the army. An army support unit en route to assist the operation also was targeted by a suicide bomber, he said, but there were no military casualties.

Azimi added that an investigation and search and rescue operation is underway.

Abdul Ghani Musamem, spokesman for the governor of Kunar Province, said seven soldiers were missing following the attack. It was not immediately clear if the soldiers had been kidnapped or had fled during the assault.

The Taliban claimed responsibility for the attack in an emailed statement, saying that one of their insurgents was killed and two were wounded.

The Taliban have escalated attacks in recent months as they try to take advantage of the withdrawal of foreign troops at the end of 2014. Casualties among Afghan troops have been rising significantly since they took the lead in the war against the Taliban.

Since the beginning of 2014, 84 Afghan army soldiers have been killed.
 

Follow Emirates 24|7 on Google News.