In the biggest known capture of Afghan soldiers, the Taliban has taken 150 prisoners after they chased units into neighboring Turkmenistan and that country forced them back, reported the New York Times.
According to the NYT report, the operation took place in the northwestern Afghan province of Badghis, and brought to 190 the number of soldiers captured by insurgents in the hotly contested district of Murghab — with 16 more soldiers killed — in less than a week.
The report further added that the latest capture was perhaps the biggest setback for the Afghan security forces since a Taliban offensive in August in the southeastern city of Ghazni killed as many as 200 soldiers and police officers, but few prisoners were taken then. The biggest recent capture of soldiers by the Taliban was about 50 who surrendered after a siege of their base, known as Chinese Camp, in Faryab Province, also in August.
Recently, despite ‘peace talks’ going on with the US, Taliban captured or killed an entire company of more than 50 soldiers.
The attack, in which the Taliban were reported to have killed 16 soldiers and taken 40 prisoner, took place in northwestern Badghis Province, close to the country’s western border with Turkmenistan.
