Taliban insurgents captured an Afghan military base in the northern Faryab province on Tuesday, killing and capturing dozens of soldiers.
Tolo News reported on Monday, August 13 that more than 40 members of the security forces at the Chenayeeha base surrendered to the Taliban after they received no assistance or supplies despite repeated requests.
Provincial council chief Mohammad Tahir Rahmani said on Tuesday that the Taliban had captured tanks and ammunition and were in control of large parts of the base, Reuters reported. Various reports put the number of soldiers killed between 10 and 15, with at least the same number wounded and dozens more captured.
“We have not been able to enter the base,” Rahmani said.
Army spokesperson Mohammad Hanif Rezaee said 100 soldiers were on the base at the time, AFP reported.
The capture of Chenayeeha comes as the Taliban waged an assault on Ghazni city in the southeast. Reports early Tuesday said the insurgents withdrew from parts of the provincial capital, setting government buildings on fire as they retreated.
The four-day attack killed as many as 100 Afghan soldiers and police and at least 20 civilians, according to local officials. The Afghan government repeatedly claimed it was in control of Ghazni even as videos posted to social media showed insurgents casually walking around the city.
Army Chief of Staff General Mohammad Sharif Yaftali said Tuesday that a clearance operation was underway in Ghazni city and would expand to other districts of the province.
“The Afghan National Army’s 203rd Corps, the Afghan National Police’s 303rd Zone and Afghan Special Security Forces continue to conduct clearing operations to root out remnants of the Taliban within the city,” U.S. Forces-Afghanistan and Resolute Support spokesperson Lieutenant Colonel Martin L. O’Donnell said on Tuesday.
O’Donnell said some Taliban forces remained in the city, but “no reported enemy activity has occurred thus far today.”
“Ghazni City remains under Afghan government control,” he said in a statement to reporters.
This story was updated on August 14, 2018 at 1205 GMT with a statement from Resolute Support and U.S. Forces-Afghanistan.