Four Afghan army soldiers were wounded by a roadside bomb in Anzargi area of Arghandab district of the southern Zabul province around 09:00 am this morning, according to a local official.
Talking to Kabul Now, Gul Islam Sayal, spokesperson for Zabul governor, said a military vehicle was also destroyed as the result of the explosion. He confirmed that the bomb was planted by the Taliban militants to target Afghan security forces.
The Taliban have not commented on the incident yet.
The incident comes in the fourth day of a seven-day partial truce, officially agreed as reduction in violence between Afghan forces, their international partners, and the Taliban.
In the meantime, Qari Yousuf Ahmadi, a Taliban spokesperson, has said in a tweet that three Afghan soldiers were killed in a battle. According to Ahmadi, they had attacked on Taliban outpost in Sangin district of the southern Helmand province.
He has also claimed that Afghan forces have been killed and wounded after they violated the reduction in violence agreement in the western Farah and southern Urozgan provinces.
Afghan security officials, however, have not commented on claims made by the Taliban.
The reduction in violence was put into effect earlier Saturday after nearly two years long direct talks held between the US Special Representative for Afghanistan Reconciliation, Zalmay Khalilzad, and the Taliban negotiators in Doha, capital of Qatar.
US President Donald Trump said on Sunday, February 23, that he was ready to sign a peace deal with the Taliban if the temporary truce held in America’s longest war.
In a meeting with tribal elders on Monday, February 24, Mohammad Ashraf Ghani, the incumbent president, called on the Taliban to “surrender to the people’s will” and make peace.
