Taliban kill six security personnel guarding Kamal Khan dam

Taliban killed six security personnel protecting Kamal Khan hydroelectric and irrigation dam in the southwestern province of Nimroz on Friday evening, said Nizam Khpulwak, spokesman for National Water Management Authority.

The security forces are deployed by the public protection department of the Ministry of Interior Affairs to protect infrastructural projects, including Kamal Khan Dam. Taliban has not commented on the attack, reported Tolo News.

Two security personnel were wounded in the attack near the Kamal Khan dam.

Kamal Khan Dam, built on the Helmand River in Chaharbarak district in Nimroz, has the capacity to irrigate 174,000 hectares of land in three districts, and also it can supply water to Zaranj city, the centre of Nimroz, according to the National Water Affairs Regulation Authority.

The dam will provide nine megawatts of power, and, in the first stage, it will store 52 million cubic metres of water, according to the authority.

Taliban has been on the offensive against the Afghan government since LAST month. They had attacked an army outpost in Khashrod district, Nimroz province, in which over 20 security force members were killed and six more were taken hostage, said the Khashrod district governor.

( With inputs from ANI )