At least 16 members of the Afghan security forces have been killed and two others wounded in an overnight Taliban attack on a checkpoint in the northern province of Kunduz, local officials said.
Ghulam Rabbani Rabbani, a member of the Kunduz provincial council, said on February 5 that the militants targeted the outpost in the Tar-e Akhtar area of the Khan Abad district, prompting a three-hour gunfight. Another two security forces members were taken captive by the Taliban, the council member said.
Another local official said the Taliban overran the checkpoint and seized all weapons and equipment, as the security forces -- outnumbered by the militants -- received no reinforcement.
The officials said the outpost belongs to the Afghan National Directorate of Security.
The attack comes amid a sharp increase in violence across Afghanistan despite the ongoing efforts for peace between the Western-backed government in Kabul and the Taliban.