14 border forces killed in "Taliban attack" despite ceasefire

14 border forces killed in "Taliban attack" despite ceasefire
# 29 May 2020 11:43 (UTC +04:00)

The Ministry of Defense in a statement on Friday said that at least 14 members of the Afghan Border Force were killed in an attack by the Taliban in Dand-e-Patan district in the eastern province of Paktia on Thursday evening, despite a ceasefire that continues between the two sides, APA reports citing TOLO News.

The statement reads that the Taliban violated the ceasefire and attacked the Border Forces outpost in the district, adding that the attack was fended off by Afghan forces and the Taliban suffered heavy casualties.

Three other members of the Border Force were wounded in the attack.

This comes as a government official on Friday morning confirmed that the ceasefire that started on May 24 continues across the country despite some scattered incidents that happened in the last two days.

Javid Faisal, a spokesman for the National Security Council, in a tweet said “a ceasefire is a complex operational undertaking that requires significant and ongoing coordination to avoid incidents” and “those efforts will continue.”

There have been other scattered incidents after the Eid ceasefire was called. Zabul in the south, Farah in the west and Parwan in the center of Afghanistan have witnessed clashes between government forces and the Taliban during this period (May 27 and May 28), according to officials and local sources.

The Eid ceasefire--from May 24 to May 26-- was announced by the Taliban and reciprocated by the Afghan government, and, according to figures provided by the Afghan Independent Human Rights Commission, civilian casualties dropped by 80 percent.

There were reports of two security incidents on each of the three days of Eid, which was significantly less than recent averages.

According to the AIHRC, before the ceasefire, up to 30 Afghans were killed and wounded as a result of war and violence in the country on a daily basis.

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THE OPERATION IS BEING PERFORMED