NATO Forces Kill 5 Afghani Civilians, Including 3 Women, Taliban Claim Killing 15 Afghani Soldiers

NATO Forces Kill 5 Afghani Civilians, Including 3 Women, Taliban Claim Killing 15 Afghani Soldiers

February 12, 2010

US-led raid kills civilians in Afghanistan

Press TV, Fri, 12 Feb 2010 10:54:00 GMT

US-led forces have killed at least five people, including three women, in a night raid in the troubled eastern Afghanistan.

In a statement NATO said that the incident took place on Thursday night in the Gardez district, and that several militants were killed in the crossfire.

"Several insurgents engaged the joint force in a fire fight and were killed," the statement read.

Afghan officials in Paktia province confirmed that they are investigating the deaths of five people in a home near the provincial capital of Gardez.

One local Afghan intelligence official and a prosecutor are among the dead.

Afghan, NATO and US troops are gearing up for a massive "offensive against Taliban militants" in southern Afghanistan. Hundreds of Afghan families have fled their homes in Helmand to avoid being caught in crossfire. US-led forces are frequently condemned for their lack of concern for civilian lives.

Afghan President Hamid Karzai has denounced the killing of civilians, which fuels anti-American sentiments in Afghanistan. Thousands of Afghan civilians have been killed since the US invasion which was launched to allegedly destroy the militancy in Afghanistan.

JR/JG/DT

Taliban claim killed 15 US-led troops

Press TV, Fri, 12 Feb 2010 14:27:50 GMT

The Taliban fighters in Afghanistan claimed Friday that they had killed at least 15 US-led troops in Khost Province.

Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said they blew up a vehicle with hundreds of kilos of explosives targeting US-led troops in the area.

A Press TV correspondent in Kandahar said local sources had confirmed the report. According to the sources, the bomb exploded around noon killing many troops in the Lakno area, in the suburbs of Khost city.

The US-led force has not commented on the report.

A similar attack last night injured five American troops in the neighboring Paktia Province.

After more than eight years of US-led military involvement in Afghanistan, war attacks continue to spread in the war-torn country.

HN/SAR/MD

Taliban claim responsibility in US base attack

By Amir Shah, Associated Press Writer –

Fri Feb 12, 2010, 6:21 am ET

KABUL –

Taliban fighters claimed responsibility Friday for an attack by a suicide bomber on a U.S. military base near the Pakistani border that injured five Americans.

Taliban spokesman Zabiullah Mujahid said the attack Thursday night in eastern Afghanistan was conducted by an insurgent wearing the uniform of a border policeman.

"Last night, a Talib by the name of Mohammad Omar wore a border police uniform, entered the base and blew himself up," he told The Associated Press by phone.

The attack occurred after sundown in a barracks at a U.S. facility in the Dand aw Patan district in Paktia province, about 35 miles (70 kilometers) east of the provincial capital Gardez, according to provincial government spokesman Roullah Samoun.

Abdul Satar, an adviser to the Paktia Provincial Reconstruction Team, said a U.S. delegation from Bagram had been sent to investigate the incident Friday.

A U.S. statement said "several" U.S. service members were injured in an explosion at a joint U.S.-Afghan outpost in Paktia but gave no further details.

The attack occurred about 400 miles (640 kilometers) northeast of the Taliban town of Marjah in southern Afghanistan which is under siege by U.S. and Afghan troops.

On Dec. 30 a Jordanian believed to be a double agent blew himself up at a CIA base in another eastern border province, Khost, killing seven agency employees and a Jordanian intelligence officer.

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