Nine soldiers were killed in an attack by Taliban fighters against a security post in a western province in Afghanistan, officials said. Spokesman for the governor of Farah province Mohammad Naser Mehri said four soldiers were wounded in the attack when the militants stormed the post. A four-hour gunbattle then ensued, he added of the attack that took place on Tuesday night. Mehri said Afghan war planes were deployed and 17 Taliban fighters were killed. On Thursday, a Taliban attack on a military compound left 43 soldiers dead in southern Kandahar province. Intense fighting between the Taliban and the ISIS terrorist group in northern Jawzjan province left six ISIS fighters and 42 Taliban fighters dead, according to Faqir Mohammad Jawzjani, the provincial chief of police. He said ISIS launched an attack on Taliban positions in several locations, capturing several areas and villages from the Taliban in two districts. He said the fighting took place on Monday and Tuesday. Jawzjani said the number of ISIS fighters in the two districts of Khush Tipa and Darzab is about 400. On Monday, US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson made a surprise visit to the Afghan capital Kabul where he reiterated Washington’s commitment to Afghanistan. Tillerson was in India on Wednesday where he met Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Foreign Minister Sushma Swaraj, who revealed that New Delhi has agreed to hold talks on Afghanistan with Washington and Kabul.