18 Afghanis Killed in War Attacks, US Predator Drone crashes, April 21, 2009

18 Afghanis Killed in War Attacks, US Predator Drone crashes

April 21, 2009

Kidnappers seize father of Afghan minister

By AMIR SHAH, Associated Press Writer

KABUL –

Alleged Taliban fighters kidnapped the father of Afghanistan's education minister in a central province, while a Predator drone crashed in the country's east, officials said Tuesday.

Two alleged Taliban fighters on motorbikes seized the father of Education Minister Farouq Wardak in Wardak province's Sayed Abad district on Monday, said provincial Governor Halim Fedai.

The minister's family is in contact with the kidnappers, said Sher Wali Wardak, another son of the kidnapped 80-year-old Khoja Mir.

Kidnappings of wealthy Afghans have spiked over the last year, often carried out by criminals and militants seeking money or political leverage.

In eastern Afghanistan, meanwhile, a U.S. Air Force Predator drone crashed Tuesday, U.S. Central Command said in a statement.

"The crash was not due to hostile fire," the statement said. It did not give a reason for the crash.

In southern Uruzgan province, police clashed with alleged Taliban fighters in Khas Uruzgan district, killing seven alleged Taliban fighters Tuesday, said Juma Gul Himat, the provincial police chief. Two policemen were wounded in the clash.

Three civilians, three police dead in Afghanistan

Mon Apr 20, 2009, 2:47 pm ET

KABUL (AFP) –

Three civilians and three policemen were killed Monday and more than a dozen others were wounded in the latest incidents of violence across Afghanistan, officials said.

A disabled man packed explosives into his artificial leg and detonated inside the compound of an Afghan provincial governor on Monday but managed only to kill himself, police said.

The bomber hobbled into the heavily guarded compound of the governor in the western city of Herat and exploded his bombs after police fired at him, deputy provincial police chief, Delawar Shah Delawar, told AFP at the scene.

"Today a suicide attacker, a disabled man who placed his bombs in his artificial leg, was able to enter the governor's compound. He exploded himself after our police fired at him," he said. "The only casualty was the bomber."

Separately, a roadside bomb ripped through a civilian mini-bus in the Gurbuz district of eastern Khost province, killing two civilians on board and wounding eight others, district governor Mohammad Akbar Zadran told AFP.

He blamed the attack on Taliban (fighters) who have waged a bloody insurgency since they were ousted from power in late 2001 by a US-led offensive.

In a similar incident, a police vehicle was struck by a roadside bomb in southern Kandahar city, police said.

"One policeman was martyred and two were wounded," Hafizullah Khan, police chief for the city's eight police districts, told AFP.

Four other policemen were wounded when their patrol was hit by a landmine in the Shorabak district of Kandahar province overnight, district police chief Aminullah Khan said.

Also overnight, Taliban fighters attacked a border police post in the Shamulzayi district of Zabul province, on the border with Pakistan, leaving two policemen dead and three others wounded, border affairs ministry spokesman Jawad Khan told AFP.

Khan said that up to 15 Taliban fighters were killed or wounded in the battle, but he could not give a breakdown as the rebels fled, taking the dead and wounded with them.

Another civilian vehicle was hit by a roadside bomb Monday morning in the Tirin Kot district of Uruzgan province, killing one civilian and wounding two others, an interior ministry press statement said.

The US-led coalition forces said in a statement they killed four Taliban fighters and detained one suspect during an operation in Kandahar Province overnight aimed at capturing a Taliban leader.

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