Taliban Militants Killed 17 In Afghanistan

By Bimbo Ogunnaike with agency report

A total of 17 people including seven soldiers have been confirmed dead as Taliban insurgents attacked a military base in Qara Tepa area of beleaguered Darqad district in the northern Takhar province on Thursday, provincial police spokesman Abdul Khalil Asir said.

“A group of Taliban rebels stormed the national army base in Qara Tepa area of Darqad district at 02:00 a.m. local time today triggering gun battle which lasted for a while, leaving 10 insurgents and seven soldiers dead,” Asir told Xinhua.

Eleven more soldiers wounded in the firefight, the official added.

However, sources with the national army in the relatively restive province have yet to make comment on the report.

Taliban militants who are operational in parts of Takhar and the neighboring Kunduz provinces have yet to make comment.