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Afghanistan |
Afghan defence minister, army chief resign after Taliban attack |
2017-04-25 |
[DAWN] The Afghan defence minister and his army chief resigned Monday, days after what is believed to be one of the deadliest-ever Taliban ...the Pashtun equiovalent of men... attacks on a military base triggered calls for officials to step down. "President Ashraf Ghani ![]() has accepted the resignation of the defence minister and army chief of staff," a one-line statement from the presidential palace said. Angry Afghans had called for the resignations of minister Abdullah Habibi and army chief Qadam Shah Shaheem, among other officials, after the assault outside the northern city of Mazar-e-Sharif on Friday. Ten gunnies dressed in soldiers' uniforms and armed with boom jackets entered the base in army trucks and shot up unarmed troops at close range in the mosque and dining hall. The exact toll from the assault remains unclear. Afghan officials have so far ignored calls to break down the toll it has given of more than 100 soldiers killed or maimed, but have been known to minimise casualties in such attacks in the past. |
Posted by:Fred |