Twenty-three Taliban, Afghan policemen killed

Fri Jun 19, 2009, 8:33 am ET

KABUL (AFP) –

Afghan and international troops have killed 23 Taliban fighters in various operations in southern Afghanistan, one of which also left a policeman dead, authorities said Friday.

Sixteen of the Taliban fighters were killed in the southern province of Uruzgan on Thursday in a clash in which the policeman died, provincial authorities said.

"In a joint operation, a clash erupted with the opposition in which 16 Taliban were killed," said Mohammad Nabi Uruzgani, provincial police intelligence chief.

The bodies of the dead men were left behind after the fighting, he told AFP.

"A policemen was also killed in the clash," he said.

Also on Thursday, Afghan military forces killed seven Taliban fighters in the volatile southern province of Kandahar, a stronghold of the Taliban militia waging an insurgency that has seen record attacks this year.

"Military forces killed seven of the opposition in Zahri district and they left their bodies on the ground," Afghan national army corps commander General Shir Mohammad Zazai said.

The Taliban fighters are the main resistance group operating in Afghanistan fighting the US-backed government of President Hamid Karzai.

Afghan and foreign forces fighting Taliban fighters have stepped up operations this year to secure August 20 presidential and provincial council elections, a landmark in the war-scarred country's transition to democracy.

2 US-Allied Soldiers, 25 Taliban Killed In Afghanistan

KABUL (AFP) --

Two U.S.-led coalition soldiers were killed in Afghanistan on Friday when a bomb struck their convoy, as authorities said at least 25 Taliban fighters and a policeman died in various military operations.

The bomb struck the soldiers on the outskirts of Afghanistan's southern city of Kandahar, the U.S. military said, without releasing the nationality of the soldiers.

There was no claim of responsibility for the attack but Taliban fighters regularly use roadside bombs against the thousands of mostly Western troops helping the Afghan government against them.

"There was an IED (improvised explosive device) attack on the convoy this morning and two coalition service members were killed," U.S. Chief Petty Officer Brian Naranjo told AFP. "It was a roadside bomb."

Also on Friday, Afghan and international troops came under attack in the southwestern province of Farah and returned fire, killing a "militant leader", the U.S. military said in a statement.

It identified the man as Haji Ghulam Jan, "a logistics expert and IED facilitator with connections to multiple Taliban commanders and foreign forces."

Some locals said the man was a civilian but Afghan authorities also said he was a Taliban fighter.

The military also reported that its troops had killed more Taliban fighters, including another bomb maker, in a separate fight in the southern province of Zabul.

Troops also fought with rebels in the southern province of Uruzgan on Thursday, killing 16 Taliban fighters, said Mohammed Nabi Uruzgani, the provincial intelligence chief. A policeman was also killed, he said.

Elsewhere Thursday, Afghan military forces killed seven Taliban fighters in the volatile province of Kandahar, a stronghold of the militia waging (resistance to NATO forces) that has seen record attacks this year.

"Military forces killed seven of the opposition in Zahri district and they left their bodies on the ground," Afghan national army corps commander Gen. Shir Mohammad Zazai said.

The Taliban fighters are the main group operating in Afghanistan. With support from Al-Qaeda, they're fighting the U.S.-backed government of President Hamid Karzai.

Afghan and foreign forces fighting Taliban fighters have stepped up operations this year to secure Aug. 20 presidential and provincial council elections, a landmark in the war-scarred country's transition to democracy.

2 US troops killed in southern Afghanistan

By Noor Khan, Associated Press Writer – Fri Jun 19, 2009, 1:45 pm ET

KANDAHAR, Afghanistan –

A roadside bomb blast in southern Afghanistan killed two U.S. troops Friday, the U.S. military said.

The explosion occurred in Kandahar province, the spiritual birthplace of the Taliban. No other information, including the victims' names or which branch of the military they served in, was released.

U.S. military officials have said they expect a 50 percent rise in the number of roadside or suicide bomb attacks this year. At least 76 U.S. troops have died in Afghanistan so far in 2009, a record pace.

Elsewhere in the Afghan south, international and Afghan forces killed 16 Taliban fighters in a gunbattle, police said Friday. One police officer also died in the fighting, they said.

NATO forces confirmed there was a clash in Uruzgan province on Thursday, but spokesman Lt. Cmdr. Christopher Hall said they only had reports of five dead, all of them Taliban fighters.

Uruzgan Deputy Police Chief Mohammad Nabi said the NATO and Afghan forces also arrested one armed insurgent in the battle waged through most of Thursday, and captured a handful of guns and four motorbikes.

Asked about the lower death toll given by NATO, Nabi said he had confirmed reports from the ground of the 17 dead.

Meanwhile, a university student in the capital of neighboring Kandahar province was found dead with his throat cut Friday morning in a side room of a mosque where he had gone to study.

Sadullah Khan, a police official in Kandahar City, said they were investigating the death of the third-year medical student, but did not yet have any information on who might have been responsible for the killing.

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

alemarah1.org reported the following news: