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13 killed in Afghan army checkpost attack in E. province

12 April 2013 19:23 (UTC +04:00)

Baku-APA. At least 13 Afghan soldiers were killed Friday when militants launched an attack against an army checkpost in eastern province of Kunar, a provincial source said, APA reports quoting Xinhua.

"Militants numbered more than 100 armed with heavy and light weapons raided an army post in Nari district Kunar province bordering Pakistan and the bodies of 13 soldiers have been retrieved from the post which is destroyed in the attack as we know so far," the source told Xinhua anonymously.

He said several militants were also killed in the fighting which took place at early Friday morning in the province 185 km east of Afghan capital Kabul.

No official with the Afghan Defense Ministry was immediately available for comment.

Meantime, Zabiullah Mujahid, a spokesman for Taliban insurgent group, claimed responsibility for the attack. The Taliban, who has been waging an insurgency of more than one decade, intensified attacks across the country as spring and summer known as the fighting season is drawing near.

The Taliban-led insurgency and conflicts claimed the lives of more than 2,800 Afghan security forces and over 400 foreign soldiers besides leaving 2,750 civilians dead last year in the central Asian state.