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Afghan-Taliban Peace Talks Continue as Fighting Kills Dozens

Ayaz Gul

   ISLAMABAD - Officials in Afghanistan said Thursday the latest clashes
   between security forces and Taliban insurgents had killed around 60
   combatants on both sides since Wednesday, even as delegates of the two
   adversaries negotiate peace.
   The Taliban staged predawn assaults on security outposts in eastern
   Nangarhar province, killing at least 22 Afghan security personnel and
   injuring 15 others, a provincial government spokesman told VOA.
   Attaullah Khogyani said that Afghan forces killed nearly 30 assailants
   in the ensuing fighting.
   Separately, insurgents attacked a district center in the southern
   Uruzgan province, killing at least five members of the pro-government
   forces, officials said.
   The Taliban did not immediately comment on the latest violence.
   Afghan Defense Minister Asadullah Khalid said insurgents were to blame.
   "There have been no attacks from our side...The enemies continue to
   attack and spill the blood of Afghans," Khalid said at a ceremony in
   Kabul, where the U.S. military handed over four A-29 Super Tucano
   attack aircraft to the Afghan Air Force.
   The spate of deadly violence accompanied historic U.S.-brokered direct
   peace talks that began Saturday in Doha, Qatar, between the Taliban and
   a delegation representing the Afghan government.

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