Afghanistan on Sunday declared a day of national mourning for the 138 soldiers killed in a Taliban attack in what was one of the most deadly strikes against the country's armed forces and underscores their growing strength more than 15 years after they were ousted from power
Afghan relatives carry the coffin of a Afghan National army (ANA) soldier killed in a Taliban attack
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Kabul: Afghanistan on Sunday declared a day of national mourning for the 138 soldiers killed in a Taliban attack in what was one of the most deadly strikes against the country's armed forces and underscores their growing strength more than 15 years after they were ousted from power.
Flags flew at half-mast throughout the country and special prayers were said for the dead.
Ten insurgents dressed in army uniforms on Friday perpetrated the attack on a base in Balkh province. Two of them blew themselves up while the rest died fighting, it was reported.
Afghan President Ashraf Ghani said that each soldier who died was a hero. He recalled his visit on Saturday to Balkh to meet the 67 soldiers wounded in the incident. Ghani said Afghanistan was going through a critical phase and claimed that what was happening was not an internal matter, but an international campaign by terrorist groups to destabilise the country. He urged the Taliban to pursue dialogue instead of killing people. According to US data, between January and November last year, at least 6,785 members of the Afghan security forces were killed and 11,777 injured.
6,785 Afghan soldiers killed between January to November 2016
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