Breaking: Taliban Kills 22 Afghan Police in Province of Farah

Convoy of police officers was on its way to a district in western Farah province when it came under attack.

Ariana News Agency- At least 22 police were killed in a Taliban ambush in Afghanistan’s western province of Farah late on Sunday, officials said, adding to the growing casualty toll on Afghan security forces fighting an increasingly confident insurgency.

Taliban fighters ambushed a security forces’ convoy in Lash-e Joveyn district of Farah, a remote and sparsely populated province on the border with Iran where the Taliban have control of large parts of the countryside.

Police spokesperson Mohebullah Moheb confirmed the ambush but gave no details. A spokesperson at the provincial hospital said 22 bodies had been brought in from the incident.

Taliban Announced the Attack

Taliban spokesperson Qari Yousuf Ahmadi said 25 police, including senior commanders, had been killed and four vehicles were destroyed in the attack. Large quantities of weapons were captured, he said.

Afghan authorities no longer release detailed figures but US Defense Secretary James Mattis recently confirmed casualties have been running at some 500 a month, a figure many officials in Kabul say understates the real toll.