20 Taliban fighters killed in Afghan clash: NATO

Friday, January 29, 2010

The Daily Times, Pakistan __

* NATO troops kill Afghan cleric, demonstrators protest outside US military camp

KABUL/KUNDUZ:

The North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) and Afghan troops were attacked by a large number of militants in northern Afghanistan, and had to call in air support, which resulted in the death of 20 Taliban fighters, officials said on Thursday.

The warplanes were scrambled when combined forces patrolling in the northern province of Baghlan were attacked late on Wednesday by rockets and machinegun fire, NATO’s International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) said.“ISAF air assets bombed and strafed the insurgents... Afghan national security forces estimate that about 12-20 Taliban fighters were killed,” ISAF said in a statement.

Afghan Army General Murad Ali Murad confirmed the incident to AFP and said it occurred along the Kabul-Kunduz highway, a key supply route for the international forces. The clash came as Afghan leaders and their international backers were set to hold a major conference in London later on Thursday to chart the future of operations in the strife-torn nation.

From their strongholds in the south, Taliban fighters waging war against the United States-led forces and the government of President Hamid Karzai have expanded into northern and western parts of the country in recent years. Cleric killed by NATO: Meanwhile, AP reported that NATO troops killed a 36-year-old Afghan cleric on Thursday as he was driving in Kabul, officials and witnesses said.

Police and witnesses said the cleric, Mohammad Yunus, was shot to death with his son in the vehicle as he approached a main road from a side street. On the other hand, NATO said that foreign forces had killed a civilian in an incident involving a convoy, saying the circumstances surrounding the death were being jointly investigated with Afghan officials. According to his son-in-law, Abdul Qadir, the cleric was hit by four bullets and died on his way to the hospital Furthermore, a witness said that the convoy was composed of American armoured vehicles, and that a gunner in the first vehicle opened fire on Yunus’s vehicle. The killing sparked a protest outside a US military base.

Dozens of demonstrators gathered outside Camp Phoenix to protest the killing. agencies

NATO: 3 Americans killed in eastern Afghanistan

KANDAHAR, Afghanistan (AP) —

NATO says two U.S. service members and one U.S. employee have been killed in eastern Afghanistan.

A statement said the deaths occurred Friday but gave no more details. It says the incident is under investigation and no further information is available at this time.

At least 29 American deaths have been reported in Afghanistan so far this month. That's double the 14 in all of January last year.

Afghan troops backed by NATO helicopter gunships repelled an attack Friday by Taliban fighters armed with machine guns and suicide vests in the heart of a major city in southern Afghanistan, witnesses and officials said.

Six Taliban fighters were killed and six government forces wounded during the assault on Lashkar Gah, capital of Helmand province. The assault occurred nearly two weeks after a similar attack in the Afghan capital of Kabul --  part of a Taliban campaign to undermine public confidence in the government's ability to provide security.

The violence came a day after President Hamid Karzai reached out to the Taliban, announcing he would convene a peace conference to discuss proposals and would reach out to foot soldiers and "our disenchanted brothers who are not part of al-Qaeda or other terrorist networks."

The fighting in Lashkar Gah came nearly two weeks after a similar assault in the Afghan capital, once again showing the ability of insurgents to penetrate heavily secured areas.

Taliban spokesman Qari Yousef Ahmadi said seven men armed with suicide vests and machine guns attacked the U.N. office and a guesthouse used by government officials in Lashkar Gah, capital of volatile Helmand province.

The Taliban have attempted similar commando-style attacks in Kabul, most recently on Jan. 18 when seven gunmen and suicide bombers were killed after holding the city hostage for five hours. Five Afghan civilians and security forces also died in that fighting.

The brazen daylight attacks by a handful of determined militants dramatize the vulnerability of urban areas and undermine public confidence in Karzai's government and its U.S.-led allies — even as the United States and its international partners are rushing 37,000 reinforcements to join the 8-year-old war.

Karzai said Thursday he would convene a peace jirga — or conference — to discuss proposals and would reach out to low-level Taliban and "our disenchanted brothers who are not part of al-Qaeda or other terrorist networks."

He made the remark in London as he sought international support at a conference on Afghanistan for a plan to persuade Taliban fighters to disarm in exchange for jobs and homes.

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