The Taliban had sent suicide bombers and used heavy weapons, leaving 30 police officers killed and 15 others wounded
Afghan officials say Taliban fighters have stormed more than a dozen security posts in the country’s south and west, killing at least 30 members of local security forces.
According to police spokesman Matiullah Helal in the southern province of Kandahar suicide attacker rammed an explosives-laden vehicle into a United States (US) military convoy.
Helal said that some gunbattles between the attackers and security forces continued until the morning and none of the checkpoints was captured in the attacks.
He further when police reinforcements were sent to the aid of those posts the Taliban were using night-vision goggles and the police who were sent were shot by laser-guided weapons against which they could not defend themselves.
According a provincial council member for Farah, Jamila Amini, said that one security post fell to the Taliban before it was retaken when Afghan forces received reinforcements and air support.
Taliban spokesman Qari Yousuf Ahmadi said the group claimed responsibility for the assaults in both provinces.
The Taliban have intensified attacks on security installations across the country in recent weeks in a show of strength as the US deploys more troops to train and assist Afghan forces.
Analysts say the frequent attacks in recent months have been intended to demoralize Afghan forces beset by casualties and desertions since NATO combat forces pulled out in late 2014.
According to reports insurgent attacks became more complex this year, following Afghanistan’s loss of 6,800 soldiers and police in 2016.
Only 60 percent of Afghanistan is under government control, according to SIGAR, which told also Congress that in the first four months of 2017 alone, 2,531 Afghan personnel were killed.
US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson visited Afghanistan last month, saying the US would continue to wage war against the Taliban, but that it was willing to work with moderates