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An Afghan soldier escorts Taliban prisoners during their release from the Bagram prison on May 26, 2020. (AFP file photo)

Taliban attack on Afghan border post kills 14 security forces

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KABUL: Taliban fighters stormed an Afghan border post Friday, killing at least 14 security force members, the insurgents and officials said, the latest in a series of attacks since the end of a brief cease-fire.

“Last night the mujahideen carried out attacks against the newly established posts of the enemy in Dande Patan district of Paktia province,” Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said on Twitter.

“The enemy has been recently trying to expand its rule in mujahideen territories,” he said, adding that two Taliban fighters were also killed.

Afghan officials confirmed the attack in the early hours of Friday had killed 14 Afghan security force members.

Dande Patan district governor Eid Mohammad Ahmadzai said that 15 security force members and 20 Taliban fighters were killed in the fighting.

Officials had also accused the Taliban of carrying out two other raids on separate checkpoints on Thursday, but the Taliban have not claimed those attacks so far. Those two attacks also killed a total of 14 Afghan security force members.

A three-day cease-fire offered by the militants officially ended late on Tuesday but an overall lull in the country’s grinding violence has largely held, officials and experts have said.