Four civilians killed in bomb blast in Afghanistan

DPA, Sun, 03 May 2009 14:59:58 GMT

Kabul -

Four civilians, including two children, were killed in a bomb blast in southern Afghanistan, while four Afghan army soldiers and 31 Taliban fighters were killed in various fighting elsewhere around the country, officials said Sunday. In the latest incident, four civilians, including an 8-year-old girl and a 10-year-old boy, were killed in Gerishk district of southern Helmand province on Sunday morning when a bomb placed on a motorbike exploded in the main market of the district, said Daoud Ahmadi, spokesman for the provincial governor.

Seven others, including two policemen and five civilians, were wounded in the blast, he said.

The Afghan Interior Ministry had earlier said that three civilians were killed and eight were wounded in the explosion. The statement held the "enemies of Afghanistan," a term often used to describe the Taliban militants, responsible for the attack.

The southern region is the main hub for Taliban insurgency. The Taliban fighters rely heavily on use of roadside attacks as part of their seven-year-old resistance against the Afghan government and its international military allies.

Meanwhile, "hundreds of Taliban fighters, mostly al Qaeda member and foreign fighters" attacked an army outpost in Ghazni Abad district of eastern Kunar province on Friday evening, killing four Afghan national army soldiers and wounding three others, defence ministry said in a statement on Sunday.

Afghan commandos and US-led coalition forces were deployed to the area and the joint forces killed 19 Taliban militants in the ongoing operation, the statement said, adding that ten bodies of the Taliban fighters were left on the battlefield.

Taliban fighters claimed in a statement posted on their website that their forces killed several Afghan and coalition forces and took hostage 13 army soldiers and an Afghan interpreter for coalition forces.

The Defence Ministry did not confirm Taliban claims of taking hostage army soldiers, but said that the operation was ongoing to track down the remaining attackers in the area.

Separately an Interior Ministry statement Sunday said that government forces backed by coalition soldiers had killed 12 Taliban fighters in the Charcheno district of southern Uruzgan province in the past three days.

Three rebel commanders were among those killed, it said, adding that there no casualties among more than 200 police forces, who took part in the operation.

The violence is on the rise in the war-torn Afghanistan as Taliban fighters launched a countrywide operation, dubbed Nasrat (victory) on Thursday. Under the new offensive, the Taliban fighters, who were driven from power in late 2001, have vowed to increase their attacks on Afghan government and NATO military targets.

Around 70,000 international troops are currently stationed in Afghanistan. The US has ordered the deployment of 17,000 additional combat forces and 4,000 military advisors to arrive in country by summer this year.

19 Taliban fighters killed in Afghanistan

May 3, 2009 at 1:06 AM

KABUL, Afghanistan, May 3 (UPI) --

Afghan troops accompanied by Coalition advisers killed 19 Taliban fighters Saturday when they were attacked 150 miles east of Kabul, the U.S. military said.

The troops were on patrol in Kunar Province when the Taliban fighters fired on them from a wooded area, officials said. They returned fire, killing seven of the Taliban fighters, and then killed 19 more when they tried to move to a ridge-top position.

No civilians or soldiers were hurt in the encounter.

"This engagement was another blow to (Taliban fighters) operations in eastern Afghanistan," the Coalition said. "Due to the expertise of these elite forces the insurgents are quickly losing their ability to operate in the region."

The U.S. State Department reported Friday that three U.S. soldiers, two Latvians and three Afghan soldiers were killed in an attack on a Kunar Province outpost.