Taliban infiltration kills at least 25 security personnel in the Ghazni province, Afghanistan on Saturday (December 14). The government officials in Afghanistan confirmed that this was an insider job. A group of seven security personnel turned their guns against the forces overnight.
An official told the Xinhua news agency that seven local security personnel who was under the patronage of the Taliban outfit opened fire on their colleagues on a checkpoint in Qarabagh district, where they were asleep, killing 23 on the spot; two died later. They ran away with the weapons. The forces have experienced around 50 insider attacks in the past one year. The assailants collected the arms and ammunition before fleeing the base.
An attack on a volatile zone
The checkpoint is seen as a volatile zone and the forces have been working towards increasing the security in the past few months. There were various risks in some of the northern and southern provinces. The forces were trying to decrease the hideout spots before winter because of the risk of the Taliban forces increasing in number.
The attack on Wednesday had created distress in Afghanistan and the US. The talks were paused for the time being when the attack at the checkpoint on Saturday has escalated the situation. The province has been a centre to several distresses between the Afghan forces and the Taliban militants for the past few months.
Afghan officials blamed the Taliban
The Afghan officials blamed the Taliban militants for the attack. Zabihullah Mujahid, who claims to speak for the militant group confirmed the incident. The attack happened in the Liwanai Bazaar locality.
On Wednesday the Taliban militants had attacked the Bagram base killing two and injuring several civilians. The US had expressed its displeasure in the Taliban actions right before the talks between the country and the militants.
