20 Afghan security forces killed in northern Afghanistan

At least 20 members of Afghanistan's security forces were killed on Thursday in two attacks allegedly carried out by the Taliban in the northern provinces of Kunduz and Faryab, officials confirmed on Friday.

Security sources said 16 of the officers were killed in an attack on a checkpoint in the Jan Abad district of Kunduz, the scene of an upsurge in Taliban attacks.

Rabani Rabani, a member of the Kunduz provincial council, said the attack took place in the Tap e Ajtar area and confirmed to the Afghan television station Tolo TV that in addition to the dead and wounded, two members of the security forces were reportedly abducted.

In addition, five members of the security forces, including the commander of an Afghan army battalion, were killed in the attack in the Juaja Sabz Posh district of Fayab, provincial governor Naqibullah Fayiq confirmed.

Fayiq also said that the attack had resulted in a yet to be determined number of abductees, a fact confirmed by the Taliban, who released a video showing several abducted soldiers and claiming to have inflicted "heavy losses" on government forces. 

The governor also said that 15 Taliban had been killed in the fighting and that the country's president, Ashraf Ghani, had told him in a telephone call that the armed forces had been ordered to stand firm in operations against the Taliban insurgency.

The Afghanistan Independent Human Rights Commission (AIHRC) said on 27 January that the number of civilian casualties from the conflict in Afghanistan fell by about 21% in 2020 compared to the previous year, but pointed to a spike in targeted killings in the same period.  

On Friday 22nd Washington announced that it would review the agreement reached last year by the Trump administration with the Taliban to ensure that the insurgent group fulfils its commitments to reduce violence. 

The decision was communicated by Jake Sullivan, the new national security adviser, during a call with his Afghan counterpart, Kabul Hamdullah Mohib.

"Sullivan made clear the US intention to review the February 2020 agreement between the US and the Taliban," the adviser's spokeswoman, Emily Horne, said in a statement.

The goal of the review will be to determine "whether the Taliban are fulfilling their commitments to cut ties with terrorist groups, reduce violence and engage in negotiations with the Afghan government and other actors," Horne added.

"Sullivan stressed that the United States will support the Afghan peace process with a robust, regional diplomatic effort, which will seek to help both sides achieve a just and lasting political solution and a permanent ceasefire," the spokeswoman continued.

The agreement reached by the previous administration called for a phased withdrawal of all troops by May of this year; however, Sullivan did not clarify whether the US plans to fulfil this commitment before May. What he did confirm is that Biden advocates keeping a small number of troops to protect against a possible resurgence of Al-Qaeda or Daesh.

Revising the agreement allows the new US administration to put pressure on the Taliban at a time when targeted attacks on journalists, activists, politicians and intellectuals continue. In recent weeks, most of the victims have been female state officials.

Sullivan stressed in his call with Mohib the need to "protect, as part of the peace process, the extraordinary gains that have been made by women, girls and minority groups in Afghanistan".

The presidential adviser pledged to continue to engage with Afghan authorities, NATO and its regional allies to devise a "collective strategy that supports a stable, sovereign and secure future for Afghanistan".