16 security personnel killed in Taliban attack near Afghanistan's Salma Dam

At least 16 security personnel were killed in an attack by the Taliban on a security checkpoint at the Salma Dam in western Herat province.

Salma dam located on the Hari River in the Chishti Sharif District of Herat Province in western Afghanistan was attacked on Sunday night by the Taliban, The Khaama Press reported citing local sources.

Sources claimed that the checkpoint and its equipment had fallen into the hands of the Taliban.

This dam is called the Afghan-India Friendship dam. It has a water storage capacity of 640 million cubic meters and an irrigation capacity of 2,00,000 acres of farmland from the Chishti Sharif District of Herat to the Zulfiqar area on the Iran Border.

This dam has been India's most expensive infrastructural project in Afghanistan in recent years.

Both the Taliban and government officials have not made any comments on this matter yet.

Meanwhile, Afghan forces have expressed the need to retake all the districts that have recently fallen to the Taliban. At least 10,000 members of Afghan commando forces are engaged in suppressing the Taliban across the country.

Afghanistan has been witnessing a surge in violence as the Taliban has intensified its offensive against the government.

This comes as foreign forces are withdrawing from the war-torn country.

As the Taliban have taken control of several districts across the country, US intelligence assessments have suggested the country's civilian government could fall to the terror group within months of US forces withdrawing completely.

( With inputs from ANI )