Taliban/IEA VBIED and Assault Team Target Community Protection Compound in Gardez, Paktia, Afghanistan

On 01 September at 05:00 am local time, a Taliban VBIED detonated outside the gate to a ‘Convoys Protection Unit,’ or operations unit facility in Gardez. A small assault team then stormed the compound, killing at least 3 members of the security forces. The attackers allegedly were also wearing suicide vests. Per the Taliban statement, the facility was destroyed and at least 74 soldiers killed – local officials claim that the militants were killed outside the base. The compound does appear to have been destroyed by the car bomb blast. The remaining Taliban/IEA prisoners are scheduled to be released this week, though a number of setbacks have delayed during the final hurdle for intra-Afghan negotiations to begin in Doha. Operations involving suicide bombers and assault teams are deemed legitimate responses to the ‘illegitimate’ Kabul regime’s drone and air strikes on civilian positions, per Taliban statements.