UNIPATH STAFF
Afghan security forces killed three terrorists and rescued dozens of charity workers in September 2016 after the Taliban attacked a residential compound linked to CARE International.
Interior Ministry spokesman Sediq Seddiqi said 42 people escaped injury after Afghan Special Forces responded to the compound and killed the gunmen. No aid workers were killed.
President Ashraf Ghani said the attack on innocent workers is a sign terrorists are losing the battle. “The enemies of Afghanistan have lost their ability to fight the security and defense forces of the country and thus attack highways, cities, mosques, schools and common people,” he said. Afghan Chief Executive Abdullah Abdullah condemned the attack as an “act against religion, human faith and humanity.”
The rescue operation occurred as Afghan forces were routing Taliban terrorists during operations across the country. According to an Afghan Ministry of Defense report, nearly 100 terrorists were killed or wounded by the Afghan National Army, the Afghan National Police and the National Directorate of Security in the districts of Ghazni, Paktia, Paktika, Khost, Kandahar, Farah, Ghor, Takhar, Baghlan, Kunduz, Sar-i-Pul, Samangan and Helmand.
The report said Afghan National Police seized ammunition and roadside bombs during the operation, while the interior counternarcotics police reported the seizure of large quantities of narcotics, with one report mentioning 245 kilograms of opium and hashish. The Taliban and other terror organizations use the proceeds from illicit drug sales to conduct attacks against Afghanistan.
Sources: Voice of America, Pakistan Times, Afghanistan Times Daily