At least 15 Afghan soldiers were killed when Taliban fighters attacked their base in Kandahar, officials said Friday, in the third major insurgent assault this week on the military in the southern province. “The Taliban launched a coordinated assault on an army base last night (Thursday) in Shah Wali Kot,” defence ministry spokesman Dawlat Waziri told AFP. “Whenever there is an attack in Kandahar, the central government does not help.”His scathing remarks did not immediately provoke a response from Kabul. They come just a month after the Taliban killed at least 135 soldiers in the northern province of Balkh in the deadliest insurgent attack on an Afghan military base since 2001. During another deadly Taliban attack on security outposts in southern Zabul province on Sunday, local officials made desperate calls to Afghan television stations to seek attention because they were unable to contact senior authorities for help.

Source: Egypt Independent May 26, 2017 17:26 UTC