Taliban insurgents have killed at least 14 Afghan troops and injured several others in a pre-dawn attack in southern Helmand province.
Officials said Sunday insurgents stormed police outposts around the provincial capital of Lashkargah, but security forces repelled the attack and ensuing fierce clashes inflicted heavy casualties on the Taliban.
A Taliban spokesman claimed the attack and gave a much higher death toll for government forces.
Later, a suicide bomber in neighboring Kandahar province detonated his explosives-laden vehicle near a NATO convoy.
Provincial police spokesman, Matiullah Helal, told VOA, the blast killed a woman passerby and wounded five other civilians, but did not harm any foreign troops.
The Taliban routinely carry out guerrilla raids and suicide bombings, mainly targeting Afghan security forces and convoys of NATO’s Resolute Support mission, which comprises mostly U.S. forces.
ISLAMABAD —
