Taliban commander killed in Afghanistan

Published: Oct. 14, 2009 at 3:49 PM

KABUL, (UPI) --

Afghan and NATO-led forces killed a suspected Taliban commander in joint operations in the southern province of Zabul, the U.S. military said.

The U.S. Defense Department said a joint military patrol searched a vehicle near the provincial capital Qalat during operations targeting Taliban leaders suspected of plotting attacks in the region.

A gun battle ensued when the suspect did not comply with the joint security force, prompting a military response. Officials later identified the suspect as the Taliban member who was the target of the operation. The Defense Department did not release his name.

In separate operations, security forces killed more than a dozen (of alleged Taliban fighteres) and captured one suspect in a compound in the northern province of Kunar near the Pakistani border.

U.S. military officials believe the compound was used as a way station to ferry foreign fighters across the border from Pakistan.

Taliban fighters, Afghan soldiers die in clashes

Wed Oct 14, 2009, 7:22 am ET

KABUL (AFP) –

Nearly 50 (alleged) Taliban fighters have been killed and about two dozen wounded in separate war attacks across Afghanistan, while two Afghan soldiers have also been killed, officials said Wednesday.

In a joint operation on Tuesday, Afghan forces together with US-led troops killed 30 Taliban fighters and wounded another 20 in Chora district, in the southern province of Uruzgan, the interior ministry said.

The operation was still ongoing Wednesday to clear the area of Taliban fighters, it said.

In a similar operation on Tuesday, an Afghan army commando unit together with US-led soldiers killed 11 (alleged)Taliban fighters in Ajristan district, Ghazni province, a defence ministry statement said.

Four Taliban fighters were arrested in the joint operation, it said, adding that a number of light machine-guns were also seized.

Meanwhile in neighbouring Zabul province, two Afghan soldiers were killed and six were wounded in operations in the past 24 hours, the defence ministry said.

"Two soldiers were martyred and another four were wounded as their vehicle was struck by a roadside bomb in Atghar district of Zabul," it said, adding that two soldiers were wounded in separate attacks in the province.

Another four (alleged Taliban fighters) were killed by their own explosives in Kandahar and Khost provinces, respectively in the south and southeast, the defence ministry said.

Two (alleged Taliban fighters) were killed as they were driving away after planting a roadside bomb, which struck their own motorbike.

Similarly two (alleged Taliban fighters) were killed when the mortar shells they were trying to fire on Khost city went off in the mortar launcher, killing them.

More than 100,000 foreign soldiers under NATO and US command are in Afghanistan fighting a rising Taliban resistance to NATO forces, taking the war into its ninth year, with casualties so far in 2009 at 409, according to icasulaties.org

Two Afghan soldiers, 45 Taliban killed in blasts, clashes

Earth Times, 14 Oct 2009 13:40:44 GMT 

DPA, Kabul -

Two Afghan soldiers lost their lives in a mine blast in southern Afghanistan, while at least 45 Taliban fighters were killed in separate incidents in the region, officials said Wednesday. Two soldiers were killed and four others injured in a roadside bomb blast in Shinkay, a district in the southern province of Zabul on Tuesday, the Defence Ministry said.

Taliban roadside bombs are responsible for the deaths of three quarters of Afghan and international forces killed this year, Afghan and NATO officials said. The number of roadside bombs has increased significantly over the past months.

Meanwhile, Afghan security forces backed by (NATO) coalition troops killed 30 Taliban and injured 20 others Tuesday in the southern province of Uruzgan's Chora district, the Interior Ministry said.

There were no casualties among the forces, the statement said, but did not give more details about the operation.

Eleven other Taliban fighters were killed in a fight with Afghan security forces in Ajristan district, Ghazni province.

Four Taliban fighters died when the bomb they tried to plant on a road in Zherai district of Kandahar province went off prematurely, an army statement said. Both incidents took place Tuesday.

Afghan and NATO troops have increased operations against the resurgent Taliban in the past weeks in a bid to strike deeper into Taliban territories and push them back before the winter snowfalls limit military operations.

Eight years after the fall of their regime, the Taliban Movement claims to be more powerful than ever and the (resistance) group operates in almost all provinces of the war-torn country.

The Taliban fighters' growing strength and mounting fatalities among the international forces, which have surpassed 400 this year, have forced NATO top commander US General Stanley McChrystal to ask for up to 40,000 extra troops.

More than 100,000 international troops are stationed in Afghanistan, but there is mounting doubt in Afghanistan about their determination to fight the militants in years to come.

In a move to energize the morale of the alliance, Britain has agreed Wednesday to send 500 more troops, taking its overall deployment to 9,500 military personnel.

Prime Minister Gordon Brown told parliament that his country would not send more troops to Helmand, where they are stationed, unless the Afghan government provides more of its own troops for training and fellow NATO governments also increase troop numbers.

US President Barack Obama is also rethinking his strategy for the Afghan war.

Obama is reportedly weighing options given to him by his security advisors over whether to send more soldiers to meet McChrystal's demand or to scale down troop levels and focus on counter-terrorism operations on the Afghan and Pakistan border, where the Taliban fighters are deeply entrenched.