Asia

Taliban base attack mastermind killed in an airstrike in Wardak province

Afghanistan’s intelligence agency said yesterday that the Taliban mastermind behind an attack on Afghan military base in Wardak was killed in an airstrike in the provincial capital on Tuesday night killed eight Taliban insurgents. The mastermind of the Monday attack was among them.

The Monday’s was the latest high-casualty assault on Afghan forces, who experts say are continuing to suffer “unsustainable” losses since Nato withdrew combat forces from the country in 2014.
Militants detonated a Humvee filled with explosions before three gunmen opened fire at a National Directorate of Security (NDS) intelligence agency base in central Wardak province, but further details have been difficult to independently verify.
A local official said at least 65 people had been killed. The NDS has given a lower toll, instead claiming 36 had been killed and 58 wounded. Afghan authorities are known to downplay casualties.
“Commander Noman … was killed along with seven other terrorists in an air strike in Maidan Shar city,” it said in a statement. “NDS will follow the remaining members of this terrorist network and eliminate them all,” it added.
The Taliban dismissed the statement as “propaganda” without providing further details. Wardak provinical council chief Akhtar Mohammad Tahiri said an aerial bombardment did take place in Maidan Shar on Tuesday, but he said it killed four civilians and happened during the day.
The Wardak attack followed a flurry of diplomatic activity by the United States aimed at bringing the Taliban to the table for talks seeking an end to the 17-year war.

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