15 Afghan policemen killed in Taliban attack

Taliban forces on Monday killed at least 15 Afghan police in the Ali Abad district of Kunduz Province, according to The Associated Press.

The militant group launched the attack on a checkpoint late in the evening, leading to an hours-long firefight that left the officers dead and wounded two others, Ghulam Rabani Rabani, a provincial council member, said Tuesday, according to the AP.

{mosads}Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid has also said the group claims credit for the attack in Kunduz, where the Taliban controls several districts. The provincial capital, also called Kunduz, briefly fell under Taliban control in 2015 before it was reclaimed by NATO-backed Afghan forces.

The city is of high strategic value, providing access to much of the northern region of Afghanistan as well as the capital of Kabul, which is about 200 miles away, according to the AP.

The attack comes as the Taliban controls the largest amount of territory in Afghanistan since the U.S. invaded in 2001 in the aftermath of the Sept. 11 attacks when the militant group refused to turn over Osama bin Laden.

Last month, President Trump announced an abrupt end to peace negotiations with the Taliban and the cancellation of an undisclosed meeting at Camp David after an attack that killed 11 civilians and one American soldier. However, the U.S. is reportedly planning a troop drawdown that would share many features with the scrapped peace agreement.