Afghanistan Times
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AT Monitoring Desk-KABUL: The Taliban insurgents have released 120 captured border and local policemen after pledging that they would never join the government forces.
The policemen were captured following three days of heavy fighting in Wardoj district of the northeastern Badakhshan province.
The Taliban in a media statement said that those 120 policemen who had been willingly surrendered to them on Saturday were released after surety of the local elders that they would not wear uniform again. The policemen also handed over their weapons to the Taliban, the statement added.
A local official who wished not to be named said that the policemen were released after they were disarmed by the Talban insurgents. The military base in Tirgran locality of the district had come under constants attacks of the Taliban insurgents for the last four days and the facility finally fell into the hands of Taliban on Saturday.
Provincial police chief Col. Sakhi Dad Haidari, confirmed falling of the military base to the Taliban insurgent. “About 100 security men were also made captive by the Taliban insurgents,” he said.
Provincial council head, Abdullah Naji, said that the government failed to provide air support to the besieged security forces, despite that the Afghan forces resisted for four days against the Taliban.
Deputy provincial governor, Gul Mohamamd Bidar, said the Afghan security forces repelled two attacks of the Taliban insurgents on Thursday and Friday.
“A number of the Taliban insurgents were killed in the fight,” he said.
It is worth to mention that it has been mass surrender of policemen to the insurgents since ouster of the Taliban from power. However, it is also important that the Taliban had released all policemen.
Security affairs analysts and residents of remote Badakhshan province have continuously urged the government to take notice of growing insecurity. Unfortunately, the authorities responsible for carving out security policies have ignored the calls. The inattention resulted in wide-scale criticism and deterioration of security situation across the country.
Taliban insurgents still roam freely in many parts of the country including Kunduz, Helmand, Badakhshan, Faryab, Kunar, Nangarhar, Herat and other provinces.
Emergence of the Islamic States in the country has been another headache for the government. Analysts believe that the government could engage on two fronts if Islamic State, popularly known as Daesh, has ironed out its differences with the Taliban. The two could launch massive-scale attacks if joined hands.
