9 soldiers killed in Taliban attack in Afghanistan

Nine Afghan army soldiers were killed during clashes with Taliban militants in Afghanistan's eastern Logar province during Wednesday night, the country's Defense Ministry confirmed on Thursday.

"Nine members of Afghan National Army forces were killed following a Taliban attack on Afghan National Defense and Security Forces security checkpoints in Qala-e-Dasht locality, Charkh district, Logar province," the ministry said in a statement.

Without providing details, the statement added that "the ANDSF (Afghan National Defense and Security Forces) on its state of Active Defense fought back the attackers, inflicting heavy casualties on the side of enemy."

The province, some 60 km south of the country's capital Kabul, has been the scene of heavy clashes between the Taliban and security forces for long.

The ministry extended condolences to the families of the soldiers.

Militants in Afghanistan have intensified their activities in the last weeks even after a peace deal was signed between the United States and the Taliban in Doha and a joint declaration was issued by the U.S. side and the Afghan government in late February.