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5 policemen killed in Taliban attack as Afghanistan marks Independence Day

August 19, 2017
Afghan President Ashraf Ghani attends Afghan Independence Day celebrations in Kabul, Afghanistan, on Saturday. — Reuters
Afghan President Ashraf Ghani attends Afghan Independence Day celebrations in Kabul, Afghanistan, on Saturday. — Reuters

KABUL/KANDAHAR — Taliban insurgents attacked a police checkpoint in the southern Helmand province, killing five Afghan police, provincial police officials said on Saturday.

Gen. Abdul Ghafar Safi, the provincial police chief, says six other policemen were wounded in the attack late Friday in Nawa district, where clashes were still underway early Saturday.

Taliban spokesman Qari Yusouf Ahmadi claimed responsibility for the attack.

In the neighboring Uruzgan province, the Taliban attacked a checkpoint in the provincial capital, Tarin Kot, killing a policeman and igniting clashes that killed 15 of the insurgents, according to Dost Mohammad Nayab, spokesman for the provincial governor. He said another three policemen were wounded.

The Taliban have stepped up their attacks since the US and NATO formally concluded their combat mission at the end of 2014. Meanwhile, Afghan on security forces were on high alert Saturday as the war-weary country, reeling from a number of high-profile deadly attacks, marked its Independence Day with muted celebrations.

There was an increased police presence in the capital Kabul where President Ashraf Ghani hosted a private ceremony for Afghan dignitaries.

“All of our police units are on the highest state of alert and they are placed everywhere across the city,” Kabul police spokesman Abdul Basir Mujahid said.

“We have increased the number of police checkpoints in and around the diplomatic quarters (too),” he added, amid fears that the Taliban would mark the anniversary with a large-scale attack.

Aug. 19 commemorates the signing of the Treaty of Rawalpindi in 1919, which granted Afghanistan full independence from Britain, although the country was never part of the British empire, after three bloody wars.

While Afghanistan’s red, black and green tricolor flag adorned many Kabul streets, the day was largely going unobserved by ordinary Afghans, who are frustrated by the deteriorating security situation and the lack of progress by the US-led international coalition forces.

As in recent years there are no public ceremonies planned in the capital.

The city has been on edge since a massive truck bomb ripped through its diplomatic quarter during morning rush hour on May 31, killing about 150 and wounding around 400 people, mostly civilians, in an unclaimed attack.

Taliban insurgents are currently at the peak of their summer fighting season and have launched several deadly assaults around the country in recent weeks.

Ghani welcomed dozens of Afghan officials for a morning ceremony at the presidential palace and laid a wreath at the independence minaret inside the defense ministry compound.

“A very happy Independence Day to everyone in AFG,” Ghani said on Twitter.

“This day was earned with lots of sacrifices. We must pay homage & celebrate this legacy.”

While some Afghans changed their Facebook profile pictures to the Afghan flag or to Amanullah Khan, the king who secured Afghanistan’s independence, others lamented that the fight against the Taliban, now in its 16th year, meant there was little to celebrate.

“What independence day are we talking about when we are still at war with terrorism and don’t seem to be winning against it?” one user wrote on the social media site. — Agencies


August 19, 2017
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