A total of 314 army soldiers graduated from an Afghan army's training center and joined the country's security forces, authorities said Wednesday.

"A total of 314 soldiers graduated from the Afghan National Army's 203 Tandar Corps Military Training Center and received professional certificates on Tuesday. Subsequent to their military training they joined Forces of Regional Army in provinces of Southeast zone," the army corps said in a statement.
The fresh graduates would serve their people and "would fight to defend lives and property of their compatriots against terrorist attacks," the statement added.
The government established the Regional Army last year, to protect villages and districts around the country where national army has limited presence.
The latest graduation came as fighting rages amid growing insurgency across the country.
About 20 Afghan army personnel lost their lives during separate attacks since beginning this month.
The Afghan security forces remain in control of most of Afghanistan's population centers and all of 34 provincial capitals, but Taliban insurgents hold large portions of rural areas, staging coordinated large-scale attacks against Afghan cities and districts occasionally.