Violent attacks in Afghanistan drastically rose sharply last year, as talks between the United States and the Taliban continue over the possible withdrawal of foreign troops.
The US Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction (SIGAR) said in a report that “enemy-initiated attacks” rose in the fourth quarter, which saw a total of 8,204 attacks. In the same period in 2018 there was a total of 6,974 attacks.
The US have been negotiating on ending the 18-year war in Afghanistan. The negotiations have been interrupted at least twice after Taliban attacks on US military personnel in September and December.
Recently, the US military said an E-11A aircraft crashed in Afghanistan’s Ghazni province, in an area partly controlled by the Taliban. However, the military rejected claims that the Taliban had brought the military plane down, while a Taliban spokesperson added to the confusion by saying that “an aircraft of American occupiers has crashed in Ghazni province”.
“A turbulent last six months resulted in increases in overall enemy attacks (6%) and effective attacks (4%) in 2019 compared to the already high levels reported in 2018,” SIGAR said.
Attacks in Afghanistan continue despite US-Taliban talks
EPA-EFE/HEDAYATULLAH AMID
A man walks near a crater formed at the scene of a truck bomb blast that targeted Green Village compound which houses sensitive installations, in Kabul, Afghanistan, 03 September 2019. At least 16 people were killed and 119 others were wounded in a truck bomb attack in the east of Kabul, at a residential area for foreign nationals, spokesman for the Ministry of Interior Nusrat Rahimi said.
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