Two Danish soldiers killed in Afghanistan

AFP, Thu Dec 4, 1:08 pm ET

COPENHAGEN (AFP) –

Two Danish soldiers serving with NATO's force in Afghanistan were killed Thursday in the southern part of the country, the Danish military said in a statement.

The soldiers were killed when clashes erupted with the Taliban fighters while they were on patrol about eight kilometers (five miles) south of the town of Gereshk in the Helmand province, the statement said.

The foot patrol came under attack around 9:00 am local time (0430 GMT) when a mine exploded and then gunfire erupted. The blast killed a Danish soldier, while a later explosion killed a second Dane who had arrived to help carry away his compatriot.

On Wednesday, Danish Crown Prince Frederik and Defence Minister Soeren Gade toured the Gereshk district following a visit to Danish troops in Helmand.

The deaths bring to 18 the number of Danish troops killed in the country since Copenhagen deployed soldiers there as part of NATO's International Security Assistance Force in 2001 -- one of the highest per-capita death tolls among coalition forces.

Danish Prime Minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen said he was "deeply saddened" by the deaths and expressed his "deepest sympathies" to their loved ones.

Denmark currently has some 700 troops in Afghanistan, most of whom are stationed in the Helmand province under British command.

Pakistani air strikes kill 30 Taliban fighters: security official

AFP, Wed Dec 3, 2:08 pm ET

PESHAWAR, Pakistan (AFP) –

At least 30 alleged Taliban fighters were killed Wednesday during military air strikes in a restive Pakistani tribal district bordering Afghanistan, security officials said.

The strikes were carried out by Pakistani jets and helicopter gunships at alleged Taliban fighters in Mohmand tribal district bordering Afghanistan.

"According to reports received here at least 30 alleged Taliban fighters were killed in the air strikes," a security official told AFP.

The toll could not be confirmed independently as journalists are barred from going to the troubled region.

Nearly 1,500 people have been killed since July 2007 when the Pakistani government joined NATO forces in fighting Taliban fighters.

US forces kill 10 Taliban fighters in Afghanistan

U.S. troops killed 10 alleged Taliban fighters during operations in southern and central Afghanistan, while five more witnesses testified at a hearing over allegations that two American soldiers mistreated a detainee, the U.S. military said Wednesday.

Seven alleged Taliban fighters were killed during a clash with a joint U.S.-Afghan patrol in the Nad Ali district of the southern Helmand province on Tuesday, the military said in a statement.

"The combined forces were conducting a combat reconnaissance patrol when they were engaged by Taliban fighters from multiple fighting positions using small-arms, indirect and rocket fire," the statement said.

Southern Afghanistan is the center of the Taliban-led resistance to the NATO occupation forces. The U.S. military has said it will continue its operations against Taliban fighters throughout the winter.

In another clash Tuesday, three Taliban fighters were killed during a firefight with U.S. troops in the Andar district of Ghazni province Tuesday, another military statement said.

The troops were targeting a Taliban fighter's leader coordinating Taliban activities in the province. The statement did not name the Taliban leader or say whether he was one of the three persons killed.

At a U.S. base in eastern Afghanistan, meanwhile, a hearing continued into allegations that two U.S. soldiers mistreated a detainee in August, the military said.

Capt. Roger T. Hill and 1st Sgt. Tommy L. Scott, both of 1st Battalion, 506th Infantry Regiment, based at Fort Campbell, Kentucky, are facing an Article 32 hearing, similar to a civilian grand jury investigation, to determine whether they should be brought to trial, a U.S. forces statement said.

Twenty-three witnesses — including five on Tuesday — have testified during two days of hearings at Camp Salerno in Afghanistan's eastern Khost province, the statement said. The hearing follows a report from within the unit about potential detainee abuse, it said.

Hill and Scott have been formally charged with detainee mistreatment and dereliction of the duty to report detainee mistreatment.

The military did not provide details about the alleged abuse or its possible victim.

Capt. Christian Patterson, a U.S. military spokesman, said the Article 32 hearing could result in a court martial, the charges being dropped or some other disciplinary action

Governor of key Afghan province sacked

By NOOR KHAN, Associated Press Writer Noor Khan,

Associated Press Writer – Thu Dec 4, 12:18 pm ET

KANDAHAR, Afghanistan –

The governor of Afghanistan's key southern Kandahar province said Thursday he was sacked by the central government and complained that powerful people in his region had been sabotaging his work.

Rahmatullah Raufi, a former army general, was appointed as governor of Kandahar province in August, replacing a powerful but controversial former governor, Assadullah Khalid. But after only three months, Raufi told The Associated Press that officials in the capital said he must go.

"Last night I received a call from Kabul saying that you are fired," Raufi said.

"Personally I do not want to work either, because some of the powerful people (in Kandahar) were creating problems in my job," Raufi said, without elaborating. He did not identify who in the government told him he was sacked.

Barna Karimi, an official with Afghanistan's Independent Directorate for Local Governance in Kabul, confirmed Raufi was fired, but did not provide other details.

The southern provinces are the center of the Taliban-led resistance movement and Kandahar province is the spiritual heartland of the Taliban. The power base of President Hamid Karzai. Karzai's brother is the head of the provincial council. The province is also Afghanistan's second-leading producer of opium poppies, behind neighboring Helmand province.

In eastern Khost province, a suicide bomber wearing a police uniform blew up explosives he was carrying at the intelligence service building in Khost town Thursday, killing two policemen and wounding nine other people, officials said.

A car parked next to the building also exploded shortly after the initial blast, said Khost's deputy governor, Taher Khan Sabarai.

Two policemen were killed and nine other people were wounded, said Gul Mohammadin Mohammadi, a provincial health department official.

The bomber was wearing an Afghan police uniform, said Col. Greg Julian, the U.S. military spokesman in Afghanistan.

In western Afghanistan gunmen killed two tribal elders Wednesday, said Rauf Ahmadi, a police spokesman.

The elders were shot in Herat city, a day after they met the Afghan president in Kabul as part of a delegation of elders from Herat Province, Ahmadi said. Two other people in the car they were driving in when attacked were wounded, he said.

Separately, in the northern Jowzjan province Taliban fighters ambushed a police convoy Wednesday, killing an officer and wounding two other policemen, said Khalil Aminzada, the provincial police chief.

Authorities arrested four suspected Taliban fighters who were involved in the attack, he said.

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Associated Press reporter Rahim Faiez in Kabul contributed to this report.