Twenty-one soldiers have been killed and six have been captured in Afghanistan. <br /><br />The attack on an army checkpoint in Kunar took place as US and NATO forces withdraw from the country ahead of a year-end deadline, shifting the bulk of the fight against Taliban and other militants to Afghans.<br /><br />General Zahir Azimi, spokesman for the Afghan Defence Ministry, described what happened: “This attack was carried out by a lot of domestic and foreign terrorists. As a result of the heavy fighting, a number of the Afghan army soldiers were martyred, some wounded and some are still missing.”<br /><br />Afghan forces launched an operation to free the captured soldiers.<br /><br />The Taliban have suspended efforts to arrange a possible exchange of Taliban and US prisoners due to the “complexity” of the situation.<br /><br />The militant group have claimed responsibility for the attack. <br /><br />The Afghan president postponed a planned visit to Sri Lanka over the incident.
