Taliban kills 10 Afghan soldiers in Helmand

KABUL, Afghanistan

At least 10 Afghan soldiers were killed in a Taliban-claimed assault on their base in the restive Helmand province, officials confirmed on Saturday.

The Afghan National Army’s 215-Maiwand Corps said in a statement that 18 soldiers were at the base at the time of the bomb attack in the Sangin district. In addition to 10 soldiers killed, four were wounded, and four repelled the Taliban attack, it added.

Omar Zwak, spokesman for the provincial administration, told Anadolu Agency the insurgents wanted to storm the base by entering a tunnel made by the blast.

Zabihullah Mujahed, a Taliban spokesman, claimed responsibility for the attack.

Under the hawkish Defense Minister Assadullah Khalid since last year, the Afghan army has taken the fighting to some Taliban bastions such as Sangin in Helmand and Andar in the Ghazni provinces, and faced stiff resistance.

Earlier this week, the Taliban killed at least 20 Afghan soldiers and an American soldier in the northern Balkh and Kunduz provinces amid ongoing fragile peace talks between the insurgents and the U.S. in the Qatari capital, Doha.