AFGHANISTAN - UNREST - ATTACK - TALIBAN

AFGHANISTAN, Alchin: Soldiers of Afghan national army (ANA) fight back Taliban militants in Alchin village, in Kunduz province, in northern Afghanistan on April 16, 2016. Afghan security forces drove Taliban fighters back from Kunduz city, officials said, as the insurgents began the 2016 fighting season by targeting the northeastern provincial capital they briefly captured last year. At least 64 people were killed and hundreds wounded when a Taliban truck bomb tore through central Kabul and a fierce firefight broke out on April 19, 2016 one week after the insurgents launched their annual spring offensive. The brazen assault near the defence ministry marks the first major Taliban attack in the Afghan capital since the insurgents announced the start of this year's fighting season. (The photographer is embedded with ANA)