KABUL: Taliban militants have killed at least 58 security personnel in various attacks in Afghanistan, officials said Thursday.
The surge in Taliban attacks raises concerns about growing instability in the country. The deadliest attack occurred in the Maiwand district of southern Kandahar province, where militants stormed an army base after a suicide attacker slammed an explosives-laden vehicle into the compound, officials said.
Taliban spokesperson Qari Mohammad Yousuf said all the 60 security personnel in the compound were killed in the attack.
But the Defense Ministry’s chief spokesperson Dawlat Waziri told Arab News that of the 60 soldiers present at the base, 43 were killed, nine were wounded, six were missing and two survived. He said 10 militants were also killed. Yousuf did not confirm the death toll on the Taliban’s side.
The number of Taliban attacks against security forces has risen following an increase in US airstrikes since August, when President Donald Trump, as part of a new strategy, pushed for more attacks against the militants.
In two separate attacks, the Taliban killed 12 policemen in 24 hours. This came a day after more than 70 people — most of them security personnel — were killed in a string of Taliban attacks, making this week the bloodiest since April, when militants killed around 140 army personnel in an attack on a military base in the country’s north.
Political analyst Bashir Bezhen cited three reasons for the rise in Taliban attacks: Encouragement from Pakistan in response to the growing proximity between Washington, Kabul and New Delhi; civilian casualties caused by US airstrikes; and security forces’ “incompetent leadership.”
The assault nearly wiped out the Kandahar army camp, Afghan officials were quoted as saying by AP.
Afghan forces have struggled to combat a resurgent Taliban since US and NATO forces formally concluded their combat mission at the end of 2014, switching to a counterterrorism and support role.
The Taliban unleashed a wave of attacks across Afghanistan on Tuesday, targeting police compounds and government facilities with suicide bombers, and killing at least 74 people, officials said.
Among those killed in one of the attacks was a provincial police chief. Scores were also wounded, both policemen and civilians. Afghanistan’s deputy interior minister, Murad Ali Murad, called Tuesday’s onslaught the “biggest terrorist attack this year.”
Over the past two years and after the withdrawal of most foreign combat troops, the Taliban have stepped up attacks and spread from their southern heartland across the country. Attacks in the north have also increased.
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Dozens dead as Taliban attacks nearly wipe out Afghan Army camp
Dozens dead as Taliban attacks nearly wipe out Afghan Army camp
Greenland should hold talks with the US without Denmark, opposition leader says
COPENHAGEN: Greenland should hold direct talks with the US government without Denmark, a Greenlandic opposition leader told Reuters, as the Arctic island weighs how to respond to President Donald Trump’s renewed push to bring it under US control.
Trump has recently stepped up threats to take over Greenland, reviving an idea he first floated in 2019 during his first term in office.
Greenland is strategically located between Europe and North America, making it a critical site for the US ballistic missile defense system. Its rich mineral resources also fit Washington’s goal of reducing dependence on China.
The island is an autonomous territory of the Kingdom of Denmark. It has its own parliament and government, but Copenhagen retains authority over foreign affairs and defense.
“We encourage our current (Greenlandic) government actually to have a dialogue with the US government without Denmark,” said Pele Broberg, the leader of Naleraq, the largest opposition party and the most prominent political voice for Greenland’s independence.
“Because Denmark is antagonizing both Greenland and the US with their mediation.”
Naleraq, which strongly advocates a rapid move to full independence, doubled its seats to eight in last year’s election, winning 25 percent of the vote in the nation of just 57,000.
Although excluded from the governing coalition, the party has said it wants a defense agreement with Washington and could pursue a “free association” arrangement — under which Greenland would receive US support and protection in exchange for military rights, without becoming a US territory.
All Greenlandic parties want independence but differ on how, and when, to achieve it.
GOVERNMENT SAYS DIRECT TALKS NOT POSSIBLE
Greenlandic Foreign Minister Vivian Motzfeldt said Greenland could not conduct direct talks with the US without Denmark because it is not legally allowed to do so.
“We must respect the law, and we have rules for how to resolve issues in the Kingdom,” she told Sermitsiaq daily late on Wednesday.
The Danish and Greenlandic governments did not immediately reply to requests for comment on Broberg’s remarks.
The comments come ahead of a planned meeting between the Danish and Greenlandic foreign ministers and US Secretary of State Marco Rubio next week to address tensions between NATO allies.
Motzfeldt said it was important to set Greenland’s relationship with Washington on a steady course.
“My greatest hope is that the meeting will lead to a normalization of our relationship,” she told Sermitsiaq.
Rubio appears not to favor a military operation, according to France’s foreign minister. But others in the Trump administration say the option is on the table.
“We are going to make sure we defend America’s interests,” US Vice President JD Vance told Fox News in an interview aired late on Wednesday. “And I think the president is willing to go as far as he has to make sure he does that.”
(Reporting by Tom Little and Stine Jacobsen in Copenhagen; additional reporting by Soren Jeppesen; writing by Gwladys Fouche; Editing by Ros Russell)
Trump has recently stepped up threats to take over Greenland, reviving an idea he first floated in 2019 during his first term in office.
Greenland is strategically located between Europe and North America, making it a critical site for the US ballistic missile defense system. Its rich mineral resources also fit Washington’s goal of reducing dependence on China.
The island is an autonomous territory of the Kingdom of Denmark. It has its own parliament and government, but Copenhagen retains authority over foreign affairs and defense.
“We encourage our current (Greenlandic) government actually to have a dialogue with the US government without Denmark,” said Pele Broberg, the leader of Naleraq, the largest opposition party and the most prominent political voice for Greenland’s independence.
“Because Denmark is antagonizing both Greenland and the US with their mediation.”
Naleraq, which strongly advocates a rapid move to full independence, doubled its seats to eight in last year’s election, winning 25 percent of the vote in the nation of just 57,000.
Although excluded from the governing coalition, the party has said it wants a defense agreement with Washington and could pursue a “free association” arrangement — under which Greenland would receive US support and protection in exchange for military rights, without becoming a US territory.
All Greenlandic parties want independence but differ on how, and when, to achieve it.
GOVERNMENT SAYS DIRECT TALKS NOT POSSIBLE
Greenlandic Foreign Minister Vivian Motzfeldt said Greenland could not conduct direct talks with the US without Denmark because it is not legally allowed to do so.
“We must respect the law, and we have rules for how to resolve issues in the Kingdom,” she told Sermitsiaq daily late on Wednesday.
The Danish and Greenlandic governments did not immediately reply to requests for comment on Broberg’s remarks.
The comments come ahead of a planned meeting between the Danish and Greenlandic foreign ministers and US Secretary of State Marco Rubio next week to address tensions between NATO allies.
Motzfeldt said it was important to set Greenland’s relationship with Washington on a steady course.
“My greatest hope is that the meeting will lead to a normalization of our relationship,” she told Sermitsiaq.
Rubio appears not to favor a military operation, according to France’s foreign minister. But others in the Trump administration say the option is on the table.
“We are going to make sure we defend America’s interests,” US Vice President JD Vance told Fox News in an interview aired late on Wednesday. “And I think the president is willing to go as far as he has to make sure he does that.”
(Reporting by Tom Little and Stine Jacobsen in Copenhagen; additional reporting by Soren Jeppesen; writing by Gwladys Fouche; Editing by Ros Russell)
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