23 Taliban Fighters, 5 Afghani Soldiers Killed in War Attacks, Kabul Hotel Rocketed, November 22, 2009

23 Taliban Fighters, 5 Afghani Soldiers Killed in War Attacks, Kabul Hotel Rocketed

November 22, 2009

23 Taliban Fighters Killed in Afghanistan Clashes

Sat Nov 21, 2009, 7:11 am ET

KABUL (AFP) –

Afghan and foreign troops killed 23 Taliban fighters in separate operations a day after the president pledged to take responsibility for security in his new five-year term, police said Saturday.

The Taliban fighters were killed on Friday in clashes with Afghan and foreign forces in southern and eastern Afghanistan, the police said.

Eleven Taliban fighters died during an operation in Zahri district in southern Kandahar province, deputy provincial police chief Fazal Ahmad Shirzad told AFP, adding the Taliban bodies were left at the scene.

In the Sanzari area of the same district, eight Taliban were killed, he said.

In eastern Kunar province Taliban claimed casualties among foreign troops after clashes in the Manogai district, but ISAF said only four Taliban fighters were killed.

"Four Taliban (fighters) were killed when ISAF soldiers returned fire, and there were no casualties among the troops," Sabawon Hotak, an ISAF interpreter told AFP.

'Four injured' in rocket attack near Kabul hotel

Sat Nov 21, 2009, 10:15 am ET

KABUL (AFP) –

A rocket attack near the luxury Serena Hotel in Kabul has injured four people, including two members of the Afghan security forces, a spokesman for Afghanistan's health ministry said Saturday.

One rocket hit the wall of the five-star hotel in downtown Kabul at 6.15 pm (1345 GMT), Ahmad Farid Raaid, health ministry spokesman, told AFP.

Zamarai Bashary, spokesman for the interior ministery, said: "It was a rocket that hit in front of the Rabia Balkhi hospital. We have four wounded, three are civilians and one is a police officer."

Two of the injured civilians were women, he said.

The Serena Hotel, owned by the Aga Khan, was attacked in January 2008 by a commander of the Taliban, with the deaths of eight people.

It is Kabul's only five-star hotel and has been heavily-fortified since the 2008 attack. It is the hotel of choice for visiting VIPs.

It is occasionally shelled, most recently on October 28, the same day that a UN guesthouse came under Taliban attack with the deaths of up to five UN staff and two Afghans.

That attack led the United Nations to withdraw hundreds of international employees, leaving a skeleton staff at its enormous compound in central Kabul.

Currently only Kabul is controlled and secured by Afghans, while more than 100,000 troops from the United States and NATO countries are fighting the Taliban.

The independent icasualties.org website puts the death toll for foreign soldiers so far this year at 477, compared to 295 for all of 2008.

Police earlier reported that Afghan and foreign troops killed 23 Taliban militants in separate operations on Friday in clashes in southern and eastern Afghanistan.

In the Sanzari area of the same district, eight Taliban were killed, he said.

In eastern Kunar province Taliban claimed casualties among foreign troops after clashes in the Manogai district, but ISAF said only four militants were killed.

"Four Taliban (fighters) were killed when ISAF soldiers returned fire, and there were no casualties among the troops," Sabawon Hotak, an ISAF interpreter told AFP.

5 Afghan border security guards killed in south

November 22, 2009

KABUL – AP-

A roadside bomb killed five Afghan border security guards traveling on a heavily used road in southern Afghanistan near the border with Pakistan on Sunday.

Gen. Abdul Raziq, a border security commander, said the bombing occurred before dawn in the Spin Boldak district of Kandahar province. The Ministry of Interior said the explosive struck an Afghan National Police vehicle, killing the five.

The attack comes amid reports that nearly a dozen Taliban fighters suspected of having ties to high-ranking Taliban members were detained in separate operations Sunday, underlining the security struggle in the country's south.

The district is in a volatile area that has been patrolled mostly by border security police. U.S. troops moved into the region in July.

Meanwhile, NATO said in a statement that forces detained several Afghanis with links to the Taliban on Sunday.

Several people were detained in Kandahar province, including a suspected militant who NATO says was involved with suicide bombings in the area and has links to several senior local Taliban leaders.

South of Kabul, an Afghan-international security force detained several Taliban fighters near the village of Kashimiri Balat while pursuing an alleged Taliban member involved in the weapons trade, it said. The joint security force recovered a number of weapons, including grenades and a military-grade night vision device.

In another operation south of the capital, a joint force detained several suspected Taliban fighters, including a Taliban commander linked with several local Taliban leaders.

Also, in Ghazni province on Sunday, a joint force killed a Taliban fighter, detained another and recovered pistols and grenades while pursing a Taliban commander.

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