Taliban launches 2 days of attacks in Afghanistan, 14 killed
KABUL — Taliban fighters launched a wave of attacks against security outposts in the east and south of Afghanistan over the last two days, even as efforts to jump-start peace talks were renewed. The violence left 14 police dead and 10 others wounded, officials said Friday.
Recent overtures by the U.S. administration indicating a willingness to concede to the Taliban’s long-standing demand for direct talks has increased expectations of progress toward a peaceful end to the protracted violence.
Despite that, insurgents have carried out waves of assaults against the Afghan National Security Forces that have left scores dead in recent weeks.
The Taliban issued a statement earlier this week ordering fighters not to attack civilians. This wasn’t the first such order and in the past similar ones did not put an end to civilian casualties, but it comes amid the most significant and wide-reaching attempt yet at kick-starting peace negotiations.