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Taliban Fighter Killed When His Mortar Tube Explodes
Published 3 years ago
Video reportedly out of Afghanistan shows the moment a Taliban mortmain was killed as a catastrophic failure of his weapon system causes it to explode as he attempts to fire a round.
The insurgents can be seen cracking jokes and laughing as one of the men prepares to launch a mortar round at a probable Afghan National Army base in what appears to be southern Afghanistan. It's not clear what caused the round to explode in the tube, but inadequate weapons maintenance and improper round storage likely played a role.
The Taliban have taken full advantage of the US decision to withdraw from the country. The insurgent force is operating overtly in daylight hours and taking large tracts of ground from government forces.