10 security personnel killed in Taliban attack in northern Afghanistan

At least 10 policemen have been killed in an attack by the Taliban militant group on a checkpoint in Afghanistan’s northern Baghlan Province.

“The Taliban attacked the police checkpoint from several directions. The fighting lasted several hours. Ten policemen were martyred. The Taliban also suffered casualties,” said provincial police spokesman Ahmad Jawed Basharat on Wednesday.

He added that the Taliban militants also ambushed the police forces sent to reinforce the checkpoint.

Interior Ministry spokesman Nasrat Rahimi has confirmed the death toll from the attack, which took place in the Khwaja Alwan district of Baghlan Province early Tuesday.

The Taliban also later claimed responsibility.

The militant group has resumed talks with the United States about possible foreign troop withdrawal from Afghanistan.

The Taliban have been negotiating with the administration of US President Donald Trump for more than a year over the withdrawal of US troops in exchange for security guarantees from the militants.

Negotiations began last year in the Qatari capital, Doha, but have been interrupted at least twice after Taliban attacks on US military personnel in September and December last year.

The Afghan government is excluded from the talks.

The United States invaded Afghanistan in October 2001 and overthrew a Taliban regime in power at the time. But US forces have remained bogged down there through the presidencies of George W. Bush, Barack Obama, and now Donald Trump.