Afghan VP survives Taliban ambush

Afghan Vice President Abdul Rashim Dostum escaped unhurt from an ambush by Taliban insurgents as his convoy returned from overseeing fighting at a northern battlefield, Afghan officials said on Monday.
In their effort to topple the Western-backed government in Kabul, Taliban fighters have battled their way into the outskirts of Lashkar Gah, the capital of the southern province of Helmand, in recent weeks.
Sunday’s ambush took place during a frontline visit to Faryab province by Dostum, who has recently been spending more time on his northern home turf than in the capital, Kabul, officials said.
“General Dostum was on the way back from overseeing the fighting when his convoy came under ambush,” in the Ghormach district of the province, said Bashir Ahmad Tayanj, a spokesman for Dostum.
“Both sides received casualties, but General Dostum was not hurt,” he added.
Afghan troops launched an operation in Faryab at the weekend as the Taliban fighters have gained ground in remote areas from where they frequently stage attacks on government forces.
Dostum, a war-hardened ethnic Uzbek, was in an armored vehicle, accompanied by well-armed security forces, when dozens of insurgents attacked the convoy, another official said. Five men on Dostum’s side and several insurgents have been killed, said a security official.
It is not the first such attack in the same area on Dostum, whose convoy was also targeted last year, when about 20 insurgents opened fire on it.

Source: Arab News