Taliban insurgents stormed an Afghan army checkpoint Wednesday in southern Afghanistan, killing nine soldiers, and destroyed 22 trucks carrying supplies for NATO forces in a previously secure northern region, authorities said. The predawn checkpoint attack took place in restive Helmand province, while the bombing of the trucks occurred around the same time in northern Samangan province, an area that serves as a key route for the NATO coalition and U.S. troops. Afghan authorities were investigating whether the checkpoint attack in Helmand’s remote and arid Washer district was organized with the help of an Afghan soldier whose whereabouts since the raid were unknown, said Daud Ahmadi, a spokesman for Helmand’s governor. “Police reinforcements were sent, and they killed seven Taliban in gun battles,” Ahmadi said. “We suspect the missing soldier was involved in a plot in the killings of the nine army soldiers, but have to investigate this point,” he said. Ahmadi did not have further details about the attack, the deadliest single strike against the Afghan army in months. In Samangan, the Afghan-owned supply trucks, including 18 fuel tankers, were parked when they were struck by a bomb apparently planted by the Taliban. One person was reported wounded in the blast. Samangan was the scene of a suicide bombing Saturday that killed at least 19 people at a wedding ceremony in a hotel.
