The Taliban attacked a military and police outpost in Afghanistan and killed up to two dozen Afghan security forces in an ambush that appeared to be assisted by Afghan police officers.
The attack, which killed at least 24, occurred Friday morning at 3 a.m. local time at a joint police and army outpost in Zabul province, according to the New York Times. The provincial governor said that the militants were assisted by Afghan police officers who fled the outpost with the Taliban after the shooting attack.
Haji Malim Kareem, a tribal elder in the area, said that the militants burned the compound to the ground after killing everyone inside.
“The outpost was attacked, and it completely collapsed in just one hour,” Kareem said. “There was no one left alive.”
“We thought the Taliban would be flexible after announcing a reduction in violence, but they are becoming more aggressive against the security forces,” Kareem added.
The attack is the latest in clashes between the Afghan government and the Taliban following a peace deal was signed in late February by U.S. special envoy Zalmay Khalilzad and Taliban political chief Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar.
The Taliban has resumed attacks against the Afghan government after a temporary reduction in violence. The Afghan government itself is emerging from a controversial election that ended in a power dispute between incumbent President Ashraf Ghani and opposition leader Abdullah Abdullah. Both men claim to be the country’s leader and have separately taken the oath of office.
The Afghan government was not privy to the United States-Taliban talks, and inter-Afghan negotiations that were set for March 10 were not held over Ghani’s refusal to turn over 5,000 Taliban prisoners, which was part of the peace deal.
The agreement commits to a full withdrawal by U.S. forces in 14 months, although American lawmakers have also expressed doubts about Taliban assurances that they would not harbor terrorist groups such as al Qaeda. Some lawmakers think that the Taliban is using the agreement as a means to take over again after the U.S. withdraws.
Following Friday’s attack, the Afghan Ministry of Defense vowed to “take the revenge of the blood of the martyrs.”
“Afghan National Defense Security Forces will not leave this attack without response,” the ministry said.
