Taleban kidnap 27 Afghan officers

KABUL: Taleban fighters kidnapped 27 police officers during an assault on a northeastern province in Afghanistan, authorities said Thursday, part of the militant group’s spring offensive ahead of the withdrawal of foreign troops at the end of this year.
Gen. Fazeluddin Ayar, the police chief in Badakhshan province, said that the 27 officers were hiding in a cave during the Taleban attack Wednesday in Yamgan district. The Taleban took the officers hostage and police have launched an effort to try and find them, Ayar said. Some 50 other officers in the district hiding in the area escaped, Ayar said.
The Taleban claimed responsibility for the attack in a message to journalists. The militants routinely execute security forces they capture.
Insurgents ambushed several police checkpoints in Badakhshan province, killing at least six police officers in Yamgan district, Ayar said Wednesday. The fighting started late Tuesday and lasted into Wednesday.
Reinforcements were sent to the site, but the police were forced to pull back from the area and were fighting the Taleban forces from surrounding mountains as army helicopters flew overhead, Ayar said. Five insurgents also were killed, and three policemen were wounded, he added.
The Taleban said its fighters had raised the movement’s white flag above the district headquarters.
Badakhshan province, nestled in the Hindu Kush and Pamir mountain ranges and bordering China, is one of the most remote in the country. The area has seen few attacks from insurgents following the 2001 US-led invasion of Afghanistan. A recent landslide in the province killed hundreds in a rural village.
The violence comes as the Taleban launched their annual spring offensive promising to step up attacks against Afghan Army. The Taleban also have pledged to disrupt voting as Afghans prepare for a second round of presidential polls on June 14. The first round was relatively peaceful, but no candidate won a majority forcing a runoff vote between the top two vote-getters — Abdullah Abdullah and Ashraf Ghani Ahmadzai.
Interior Minister Umar Daudzai said the influx of foreign Taleban fighters appeared to be more than in previous years, but the country would continue its fight.