Five police, 12 Taliban fighters killed in attacks in Afghanistan

Sun, 12 Jul 2009 08:53:37 GMT

DPA

Kabul -

Five police forces were killed in a roadside bomb blast in central Afghanistan, while Afghan and coalition forces killed 12 militants in southern region, officials said Sunday. The police forces were driving in a private vehicle on Saturday afternoon in Charkh district of Logar province when they were hit by a roadside bomb, Mustafa Khan Mosseni, the provincial police chief said.

NATO-led international military forces in Kabul said that the attack left four police dead and one wounded, who was treated by the alliance medics at the scene.

But Mosseni said the wounded officer succumbed to his injuries later in the day.

Elsewhere, Afghan and NATO forces, acting on intelligence information, attacked several compounds near the Tarin Kot, the capital city for southern Uruzgan province on Saturday night, killing 12 Taliban fighters, Juma Gul Hemat, the provincial police chief said.

Mullah Amanullah, one of the Taliban commanders was among those killed in the raid, Hemat said, adding that four bodies of the militants, which were left on the battlefield, were handed over to the elders in the area for burial.

Meanwhile, one civilian was killed and five others were wounded when their home in eastern Kunar province was hit by a shelling from a firefight between the Taliban fighters and Afghan and international forces, Abdul Jalal, the provincial police chief said.

Police evacuated the wounded to a nearby hospital, he said, adding that it was unclear which side fired the rocket that hit the house.

Afghan army and police and tens of thousands of (NATO) international forces are taking part in several operations throughout the country to drive the Taliban fighters from several districts and villages before the August 20 presidential elections.

Attack kills 12 Taliban in southern Afghanistan

By Noor Khan, Associated Press Writer –

Sun Jul 12, 2009, 4:40 am ET

KANDAHAR, Afghanistan –

International troops and Afghan police killed 12 Taliban fighters in a gunbattle in southern Afghanistan, police said Sunday.

The joint force attacked a compound north of the capital of Uruzgan province where the Taliban fighters were hiding Saturday evening, sparking the fighting, police spokesman Mohammad Musa said. He said no Afghan police or international troops were killed.

In eastern Kunar province, meanwhile, one civilian was killed and five wounded when shelling from a gunbattle between Taliban fighters and Afghan and international forces hit a house.

Provincial Police Chief Gen. Abdul Jalal Jalal said everyone in the house initially survived Saturday's blast, but one man died from his injuries after being rushed to a hospital. Jalal said it was unclear which side fired the shots that hit the house.

Also Saturday, at least six police officers were killed by roadside bombs — two in southern Helmand province and at least four south of Kabul in Logar province, officials said.

In Logar, the officers were driving in a private car in Charkh district when the explosion hit, said provincial police chief Gen. Mustafa Mosseini.

NATO forces, who secured the site and treated one wounded officer, said in a statement that four police were killed. Mosseini said five officers died.

The bombing in Helmand took place Saturday night in Lashkar Gah, the provincial capital, killing two police and wounding three, said Dawood Ahmadi, the governor's spokesman.

Police officers are regular targets of Taliban and other insurgents in Afghanistan. Mosseini said the officers had been traveling in a civilian car in order to avoid drawing the attention of potential attackers.

In another gunbattle in eastern Paktia province between insurgents and Afghan police, two Taliban fighters and one police officer were killed, said Rahullah Samon, a spokesman for the governor.

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Associated Press writer Amir Shah contributed to this report from Kabul.

Former police official, 19 Taliban fighters killed in Afghanistan

Sat, 11 Jul 2009 10:29:34 GMT

DPA

Kabul -

An Afghan provincial official said that US forces killed a former police officer in central Logar province, while 19 Taliban fighters were killed in two separate clashes elsewhere in the country, officials said Saturday. Ahmad Khan, former director of traffic in Logar province, was killed in his house in Zarghonshar area of Mohammad Agha district Friday night, a spokesman for the provincial governor said.

The US troops detained Khan's two sons and his brother after shooting him dead in front of his family, he said.

"The coalition forces claimed that Ahmad Khan had connection with anti-government elements, but our district governor and other people in the area said he was not involved in any activities against the government," Darwish said.

The US military was not available for comment.

In another incident, Afghan forces backed by international troops killed 15 alleged Taliban Fighters in Charchino district of southern Uruzgan province in an operation that started on Friday afternoon and was still ongoing, Juma Gul Hemat, provincial police chief said.

The Taliban fighters had escaped from an ongoing operation in the neighbouring Helmand province, Hemat said, adding that eight bodies of the militants were still on the battleground.

Nearly 5,000 Afghan and the US military forces are conducting a major offensive against Taliban fighters in Helmand province since July 2.

Helmand is the most volatile province in the southern region. Eight British soldiers were killed in the province in the past 24 hours, and 15 within 10 days. The total British death toll in the country since 2001 reached 184 troops, surpassing the 179 killed in Iraq since in 2003.

Meanwhile, Afghan police forces killed four Taliban fighters, including one of their commanders, Mullah Fedayee, and wounded five others in a clash in Gerdab area of northern Baghlan province on Friday night, Jaweed Basharat, spokesman for the police forces in the province said.

The clash erupted after the militants attacked a police post, he said, adding that two policemen were wounded in the attack.

Northern provinces used to be the most peaceful region in the country in the past eight years since the ouster of Taliban regime, but the region has witnessed a sharp surge in rebel attacks in the past recent months.

The latest attacks have raised concerns among the population that the Taliban fighters have extended their battlegrounds from their traditional hub of activities in southern and eastern regions to the north.

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alemarah1.org ( http://www.alemarah1.org/arabi/ ) reported many attacks during July 11-12, 2009. These attacks resulted in killing 28 policemen and 9 NATO soldiers, and capturing 10 policemen, on July 12, 2009.

Taliban attacks also resulted in killing 37 Afghani soldiers and policemen, as well as 24 of NATO soldiers.

Readers are advised that all pro-NATO and pro-Taliban news reports cannot be independently verified, as the first casualty of war is the truth, as General Patton once said.