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Afghan Forces Battle Taliban 30 Miles West of Kabul Afghan Forces Battle Taliban as Lawmakers Reject Defense Minister
(about 5 hours later)
KABUL, Afghanistan — Afghan security forces battling the Taliban about 30 miles west of Kabul have sustained heavy casualties, officials said Saturday, as senior members of the government criticized the response to the assault as slow and ineffective.KABUL, Afghanistan — Afghan security forces battling the Taliban about 30 miles west of Kabul have sustained heavy casualties, officials said Saturday, as senior members of the government criticized the response to the assault as slow and ineffective.
Details of the fighting in Wardak Province, which began Thursday, were murky, but statements by various officials said that between 16 and 30 members of the Afghan Local Police, a militia controlled by the Interior Ministry, were killed, along with at least two civilians. Some of the dead were decapitated, officials said. Details of the fighting in Wardak Province, which began Thursday, were murky, but statements by various officials said that 16 to 30 members of the Afghan Local Police, a militia controlled by the Interior Ministry, were killed, along with at least two civilians. Some of the dead were decapitated, officials said.
The fighting was taking place in the province’s Jalrez district, which lies on a strategically important highway connecting Kabul, the capital, to the central province of Bamiyan. The highway was closed Saturday, said Masood Shneezai, deputy chief of Wardak’s provincial council. Mr. Ghani, in a statement, said “the desecration” of the bodies was a “war crime.”
The ugly turn in the war comes as Afghanistan’s struggling coalition government remains without a minister of defense 10 months after taking office. President Ashraf Ghani’s third nomination for the post was rejected by Parliament on Saturday.
The fighting was taking place in the province’s Jalrez district, which lies on a strategically important highway connecting Kabul, the capital, to the central province of Bamian. The highway was closed Saturday, said Masood Shneezai, deputy chief of Wardak’s provincial council.
A spokesman for Wardak’s governor said 30 members of the Taliban had been killed and 18 wounded.A spokesman for Wardak’s governor said 30 members of the Taliban had been killed and 18 wounded.
Mr. Shneezai said the Taliban had overrun about 11 security checkpoints since the battle began. He accused the province’s police chief, Gen. Khalil Andarabi, of negligence and expressed concern that the insurgents could threaten Kabul if Jalrez fell. “There is only one mountain separating Jalrez from Paghman,” Mr. Shneezai said, referring to a district on the outskirts of the capital.Mr. Shneezai said the Taliban had overrun about 11 security checkpoints since the battle began. He accused the province’s police chief, Gen. Khalil Andarabi, of negligence and expressed concern that the insurgents could threaten Kabul if Jalrez fell. “There is only one mountain separating Jalrez from Paghman,” Mr. Shneezai said, referring to a district on the outskirts of the capital.
Security officials said hundreds of supporting forces, who reached the area on Friday and Saturday, had taken back at least seven of the checkpoints and secured the government buildings in central Jalrez.Security officials said hundreds of supporting forces, who reached the area on Friday and Saturday, had taken back at least seven of the checkpoints and secured the government buildings in central Jalrez.
Senior officials in Kabul, including Vice President Sarwar Danish, were among the critics of the security forces’ response to the assault, underscoring the dysfunctional nature of Afghanistan’s power-sharing government as it struggles to push back an intense Taliban offensive across the country. “The Afghan Local Police members fought the insurgents until their last breath, and when the ammunition finished they were killed by the Taliban,” said one local security official on the condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the media. More than 400 Taliban fighters were involved in the onslaught, the official said. Two police vehicles were blown up and two others were taken by the insurgents.
Mr. Danish, who called the Taliban assault a “brutal and unacceptable tragedy,” accused officials in Wardak of “negligence and delay” and a “lack of responsibility and coordination.” Some senior officials in Kabul, including Vice President Sarwar Danish, criticized the security forces’ response to the assault, underscoring the dysfunctional nature of Afghanistan’s power-sharing government as it struggles to push back an intense Taliban offensive across the country.
Haji Mohammad Mohaqeq, the deputy chief executive of the coalition government, said that 22 security personnel had been killed and “their bodies chopped up to pieces and burned after their martyrdom” while units of an Afghan police force headquartered nearby provided no support. Mr. Danish, who called the Taliban assault a “brutal and unacceptable tragedy,” accused officials in Wardak of “negligence and delay” and criticized what he said was a “lack of responsibility and coordination.”
Mr. Mohaqeq said the 22 men had belonged to the Hazara ethnic group and suggested that that was a reason for the failure to respond, comparing the incident to the mass killings of Hazaras that occurred in central Afghanistan under Taliban rule. Hajji Mohammad Mohaqeq, the deputy chief executive of the coalition government, said that 22 security personnel had been killed and “their bodies chopped up to pieces and burned after their martyrdom” while units of an Afghan police force headquartered nearby provided no support.
Mr. Mohaqeq said the 22 men had been members of the Hazara ethnic group and suggested that that was a reason for the failure to respond. He compared the episode to the mass killings of Hazaras that occurred in central Afghanistan under the Taliban’s rule from 1996 to 2001.
Located at the gates of the capital, Wardak Province has long remained volatile. Convoys supplying NATO forces passing through the area are often targeted by roadside bombs and Taliban fire. But the threat from the insurgency has increased in recent months, local officials said. The violence has spread into at least five districts in the province as the insurgency’s annual spring offensive across the country has caught the government in Kabul flat-footed.
Mr. Ghani, who formed a power-sharing government with his election rival, Abdullah Abdullah, after last year’s vote ended in a deadlock, has struggled to fill cabinet positions and security posts months after taking office. His initial two attempts at introducing a minister of defense failed. His first nominee was rejected by Parliament, while his second choice withdrew his nomination after videos of him making ethnically charged comments surfaced on social media.
In his third attempt, Mr. Ghani in May nominated Mohammad Masoom Stanekzai, a close confidant who had for years led the efforts to reach out to the Taliban for peace talks. Mr. Ghani personally accompanied Mr. Stanekzai to the Ministry of Defense and installed him as caretaker even before he was confirmed.
But during his parliamentary confirmation on Saturday, Mr. Stanekzai fell short by 23 votes, leaving Mr. Ghani without a minister of defense, and the army, stretched thin across the country, without clear leadership.