Taliban Capture About 150 Afghan Soldiers After Chase Into Turkmenistan

By Najim Rahim and Rod Nordland
March 17, 2019

MAZAR-I-SHARIF, Afghanistan — The Taliban carried out the biggest known capture of Afghan soldiers of the war, taking 150 prisoners after they chased units into neighboring Turkmenistan and that country forced them back, Afghan officials said on Sunday.

The operation took place in the northwestern Afghan province of Badghis, and brought to 190 the number of soldiers captured by insurgents in the hotly contested district of Bala Murghab — with 16 more soldiers killed — in less than a week.

Last Monday, an entire Afghan Army company was killed or captured there. By Saturday, its defenders said the district had fallen mostly into Taliban control, though Afghan forces were still holding the district’s government center.

The latest capture was perhaps the biggest setback for the Afghan security forces since a Taliban offensive in August in the southeastern city of Ghazni killed as many as 200 soldiers and police officers, but few prisoners were taken then. The biggest recent capture of soldiers by the Taliban was about 50 who surrendered after a siege of their base, known as Chinese Camp, in Faryab Province, also in August.

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Afghan troops killed and captured in Taliban attacks

Attack in Faryab province leaves 22 dead, after a week of heavy fighting forced dozens of Afghan forces to flee.

7 hours ago

An overnight Taliban attack on checkpoints in northern Afghanistan killed 22 troops after some 100 Afghan forces fled heavy fighting in the country's west in recent days and tried to cross into neighbouring Turkmenistan, officials said on Sunday.

The Taliban launched the assault late on Saturday against checkpoints manned by police and pro-government forces in Qaisar district, setting off a fierce gun battle that lasted into Sunday morning said Mohammad Tahir Rahmani, the head of the provincial council in the northern Faryab province.

The army sent in reinforcements, who were among those killed. Rahmani said another 20 Afghan forces were wounded in the attack.

"The Taliban have gained control of more areas in the district" after stepping up attacks in recent weeks, Rahmani said, adding that troop reinforcements have arrived from the capital, Kabul.

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