41 Afghanis, One British Soldier Killed According to Pro-NATO Media, More Killed According to Pro-Taliban Media, June 12, 2009

Dozens killed in Afghanistan

Fri Jun 12, 2009, 5:07 am ET

KABUL (AFP) –

A British soldier was among more than two dozen people killed in a surge of attacks in Afghanistan, authorities said Friday, with violence at record levels two months ahead of presidential elections.

The new bloodshed was announced as General David Petraeus, commander of US forces in Iraq and Afghanistan, warned Thursday of more "tough months" ahead in the battle against extremist insurgents here.

The British soldier, serving in NATO's International Security Assistance Force (ISAF), was killed near the southern city of Kandahar, the British defence ministry said.

The death takes to 134 the number of foreign troops to lose their lives in Afghanistan this year, most of them in bomb blasts.

Southern Afghanistan sees the worst of the Taliban (resistance to the NATO occupation of Afghanistan) and the United States is moving 17,000 extra combat troops into the area with about 4,000 military trainers also due to deploy to the country.

Taliban fighters meanwhile attacked a police post in southern Helmand province late Thursday, kicking off heavy fighting, the interior ministry said in a statement. ordinance

A dozen (of Taliban fighters) were killed, including two commanders, it said.

Taliban fighters also attacked an patrol of Italian ISAF troops and Afghan security forces in southwestern Farah province on Thursday, the provincial governor said.

Two Afghan soldiers were killed and two wounded, governor Rohul Amin Amin said. Three Italian soldiers were also hurt, he said.

The Taliban suffered an unknown number of casualties, he said.

The fighting was in Bala Buluk district, which has seen heavy fighting in recent weeks. US air strikes on Taliban fighters in the district last month killed up to 140 civilians, according to the Afghan government.

Also Thursday, a bomb in Kandahar killed three private security guards working for a bank, police said.

Another four private security guards were killed in another bombing in southern Zabul province, an Afghan official said.

The Taliban claimed both bomb attacks.

ISAF said meanwhile that four Afghan civilians were killed in a traffic accident involving one of its vehicles in the northeastern province of Kunar on Thursday.

Two more civilians were killed in the same province on Thursday by ISAF mortar rounds fired against insurgents, it said.

There have also been incidents in previously calm areas such as the northern province of Baghlan where a dozen Taliban and two Afghan soldiers were reported killed in fighting on Wednesday.

Petraeus said in Washington that the past week had seen the highest level of security incidents in Afghanistan since the Taliban's ouster from power in late 2001.

From January to May, Taliban attacks in Afghanistan were up by 59 percent from the same period a year earlier, according to NATO figures.

"There is no question that the situation has deteriorated over the course of the past two years and that there are difficult times ahead," said Petraeus, who heads the US Central Command.

He said the levels of violence would rise in part "because we are going to go after their sanctuaries and safe havens as we must."

=================

alemarah1.org reported the following news today:

In 3 ambush 20 Afghain solders were killed in Paktia

5 army soldiers killed in Zabul

A Tank of NATO blew up in Kandahar

In Explosion 7 army soldiers killed in Uruzgan

district police chief killed in Fareab

A Tank of NATO blew up in Kandahar

2 helicopters of Americans shot down in Badghis

1 tank of American invaders blew up in Wardak

A vehicle of army blew up in Badghis

In explosion 5 Poland soldiers killed in Ghazni

Fair Use Notice

This site contains copyrighted material the use of which has not always been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. We are making such material available in our efforts to advance understanding of environmental, political, human rights, economic, democracy, scientific, and social justice issues, etc. We believe this constitutes a 'fair use' of any such copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the US Copyright Law. In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, the material on this site is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes. For more information go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml. If you wish to use copyrighted material from this site for purposes of your own that go beyond 'fair use', you must obtain permission from the copyright owner.