About 200 Taliban fighters launched an offensive in a province near Kabul on Tuesday as Afghanistan’s disputed election threatens to leave the central government weakened at the same time as US troops pull out.
President Hamid Karzai appealed for the two men vying to succeed him to end their stand-off over the poll result and save the country from worsening violence.
Clashes erupted in logar province, with insurgents battling police and troops in the latest chapter of a summer “fighting season” that has seen nationwide bloodshed.
“Up to 200 Taliban attacked in Charkh district,” Khalilullah Kamal, the district government chief, said. “So far, seven army and police have been wounded. “The fighters are hiding in residential areas.”
The Afghan government has been paralysed for months after the first round of the presidential election failed to produce a clear winner and the second round of voting in June triggered allegations of massive fraud.
As fears grew of a return to civil war, the United States last month brokered an emergency deal designed to end the impasse between poll rivals Ashraf Ghani, a former World Bank economist, and former anti-Taliban fighter Abdullah Abdullah. But neither candidate appears willing to back down, and the dispute looks set to break out again in the coming days when early results emerge from an anti-fraud audit of all eight million votes.
International pressure is building for Afghanistan to select the new president by the end of the month, as the pullout of US-led NATO troops continues and Taliban insurgents exploit political inertia.