More than a dozen attacks on Afghan army bases were carried by Taliban, officials said Tuesday, hours after ending a partial truce and throwing into doubt peace talks between Kabul and the insurgents.
The negotiations are due to begin March 10 according to a US-Taliban deal signed in Doha on Saturday, but a dispute over a prisoner swap has raised questions about whether they will go ahead.
The agreement includes a commitment for the Taliban to release up to 1,000 prisoners and for the Afghan government to free around 5,000 insurgent captives. A defense ministry official announced overnight attacks on government forces in 13 of the country’s 34 provinces.
Two soldiers were killed in one of the attacks that happened in southern Kandahar province, a government statement said.
An attack in Logar province near Kabul killed five security forces, the provincial governor’s spokesman Didar Lawang stated.
In a statement, the UN’s Afghanistan mission called for “continued reduced violence to maintain & enhance an environment conducive to the start of intra-Afghan negotiations”.
Since the deal signing, the Taliban have been publicly claiming “victory” over the US.
