19 Afghan soldiers feared killed in Taliban overnight attacks

KUNDUZ, Afghanistan - At least 19 Afghan soldiers and police were feared killed in Taliban insurgents' overnight attacks in two provinces, authorities said Wednesday.

In one attack in northern Kunduz province, 12 Afghan army soldiers were killed and four others wounded after Taliban stormed an army base in Bagh-e-Sherkat, a locality in northern outskirts of provincial capital Kunduz city, Fawzia Jawad from provincial council told Xinhua.

Jawad said several Taliban militants were also killed and wounded during the fierce midnight clashes.

In a separate Taliban attack, four Afghan Local Police (ALP) personnel and three militants were killed after militants attacked security checkpoints in Tapa-e-Muarch area in the east of the city, according to ALP official Mohammad Yaseen.

The attacks in Kunduz were reportedly launched by Taliban's so-called Sara Keta or Red Unit.

In neighboring Balkh province, three ALP cops were killed after clashes erupted in Samarqandyan village of Balkh district, district chief Gul Baz Khan told Xinhua.

The violence had drastically decreased during a week-long reduction of violence period, ending on Feb 29 when a US-Taliban peace deal was signed in Qatari capital of Doha. However, Taliban militants resumed fighting and clashes with Afghan security forces shortly after the deal, which framed American troops' withdrawal from Afghanistan, was signed.