Defense Ministry to Investigate Claims of ANA, Taliban ‘Truce' in Uruzgan

The Afghan Ministry of Defense on Monday rejected the claims made in an Austrlaian newspaper that Afghan National Army (ANA) soldiers had arranged an unofficial truce with the Taliban in southern Uruzgan province.

Defense spokesman Gen. Zahir Azimi said that the report was wrong, proven by the work the ANA soldiers in the area to combat the insurgents, but added that there would be an investigation.

"This report is wrong because the ANA soldiers have engaged with the enemy many times and had some fatalities, which shows their commitment to protecting the people from those threatening peace and security," Azimi told TOLOnews.

"However we will be investigating this report," he added.

The news report published in the Canberra Times on Monday found that militants in the Chora district of Uruzgan and the local ANA soldiers seem to have shared confidential military information in exchange for an unofficial ceasefire on ANA targets.

The report suggested the truce contributed to the death of an Australian special forces soldier earlier this month.

Quoting Naik Mohammad, a tribal elder from Chora, it says that in the past three months, the local soldiers were not attacked by the Taliban at all and were never hit by any roadside bombs, while the Afghan police and foreign soldiers have came under massive Taliban attacks.

"Taliban are very strong in Chora district, there has been some kind of deal between the ANA soldiers and the Taliban because there has been not even a bullet fired on them." Naik Mohammad told the newspaper, adding that the ANA soldiers were informing the Taliban of military operations against them.