Responding to SOS, Afghan commandos caught in fierce Taliban attack

A humvee belonging Afghan Special Forces is seen destroyed during heavy clashes with Taliban during the rescue mission of a police officer besieged at a check post, in Kandahar province, Afghanistan, July 13, 2021. REUTERS/Danish Siddiqui

KANDAHAR, Afghanistan (Reuters) - Minutes after returning from a mission on Tuesday before dawn, a convoy of exhausted Afghan commandos were speeding back out of their base to try to extract a wounded policeman trapped by Taliban insurgents on the outskirts of Kandahar.

The previous outing had been tense but quiet. This operation in the southern city, a Taliban stronghold before the movement was ousted from power in 2001, was anything but.