Taliban tunnel their way into army base in Farah province

The Taliban captured an army base in Farah’s Bala Buluk district Sunday night by reportedly tunneling their way inside, an MP confirmed.

According to one member of parliament, Abdul Sattar Hussaini, the insurgents dug a tunnel into the base.

He said more than 20 Afghan National Army (ANA) soldiers, including commandos, were killed in the attack.

Farah Governor Taj Mohammad Jahid says an army camp – Shiwan – in Farah’s Bala Buluk district fell to the Taliban last night. Seven soldiers were killed and four are missing

The Ministry of Defense did not confirm the attack but the Taliban has claimed responsibility.

This comes after a new quarterly report by Washington’s Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction (SIGAR) documented an 82 percent increase in insider attacks on Afghan government security forces in the first quarter of this year, resulting in 115 personnel killed and 39 wounded.

SIGAR reported last week that the overall Afghan National Defense and Security Forces (ANDSF) casualties were also substantially higher than during the same period last year.

SIGAR is not allowed to include full ANDSF casualty data because U.S. forces in Afghanistan keep it classified at the request of the Afghan government.