Casualties among Afghan National Army Soldiers have risen sharply this month, compared to last month, said Major Gen. Abdul Raziq Siawash, the Commander of the Afghan National Army (ANA) Health Department.
Although, Siawash did not provide an exact figure about the overall number of deaths of soldiers, he said the increase in casualties comes despite the ongoing efforts to reach a peace agreement.
Deputy minister of defense, Iqbal Ali meanwhile paid tribute to all the hardworking military medical staff.
He said: “We appreciate our doctors and surgeons for working day and night to treat our wounded officers,” said deputy minister of defense Iqbal Ali.
“The opposing side (insurgents) hides in trees and gardens and this is one of the reasons which is causing casualties for us,” said Siawash.
“The wounded officers who sustain injuries in the trenches or while on duty should be transferred to hospital as soon as possible,” said Amruddin, a wounded ANA officer.
This comes as Afghan security forces tackle Taliban insurgents on multiple fronts across the country.
Last week The Afghan Ministry of Interior (MoI) confirmed there has been a sharp rise in casualties among security forces in the past few weeks after Taliban insurgents expanded their attacks on multiple fronts.
Taliban insurgents recently sought to expand their attacks in some strategic locations of Baghlan, Kunduz, Faryab, Uruzgan, Ghor and Farah provinces.
In September, Senators in the Meshrano Jirga (Upper House of Parliament) summoned Ministers of Defense and Interior and the deputy head of the National Directorate of Security (NDS) to answer questions over the increase of insecurity in the country and the high casualty toll among security forces.
Afghan Defense Minister Gen. Tariq Shah Bahrami at the time acknowledged there was an increase in casualties among Afghan National Army (ANA) soldiers and said in the past month 513 soldiers had been killed.
