Attacks All Over Afghanistan, US Pays War Lords to Guard Supplies, June 22, 2010

Attacks All Over Afghanistan, US Pays War Lords to Guard Supplies

June 22, 2010

Taliban clash with Afghan security forces

BEIJING, June 21, 2010 (Xinhaunet) --

Three Taliban militants have been killed and 33 bystanders wounded in the latest violence between the Taliban and security forces in Western Afghanistan.

Dozens of injured women and children were rushed to the local hospital on Sunday morning. Most of them had wounds from explosions.

The provincial government says the fighting occurred after local residents complained that insurgents were demanding taxes from farmers as they harvested their crops.

It says after a civilian was killed, residents then requested help from Afghan security forces who attacked and killed the militants. But, a tribal leader from the district, gave a different account.

He says after a private dispute, one of the parties requested assistance from security forces, claiming that they were under attack from Taliban insurgents.

(Source: cntv.cn)

Editor: Bi Mingxin

Explosion rocks northern Afghan province

KUNDUZ, Afghanistan, June 22, 2010 (Xinhua) -- An explosion that rocked Afghanistan's northern Kunduz province claimed the life of provincial health director Azizullah Safari on Tuesday, police said.

"It was a remote-controlled bomb organized by militants today afternoon as a result Azizullah Safari the director of provincial health department was killed and two others were injured," provincial police chief Mohammad Razaq Yaqubi told Xinhua.

The blast occurred outside a shop in Kunduz city, the capital of same name Kunduz province, he further said.

He blamed Taliban militants for organizing the attack but the outfit has not made comment.

Yaqubi also said that there is another bomb and police are trying to find and defuse it.

Kunduz has been the scene of increasing Taliban-linked insurgency over the past several months.

Editor: Deng Shasha

Woman suicide bomber wounds 18 in E Afghan province

KABUL, June 22, 2010 (Xinhua) -- A woman suicide bomber blew herself up in the eastern Kunar province of Afghanistan, wounding 18 people including three police, the Interior Ministry said in a statement on Tuesday.

"A woman suicide bomber blew herself up in Shigal district and targeted police checkpoint on Monday evening. As a result, three policemen and 15 civilians were injured," the statement said.

This is the first time that a woman carried out a suicide attack in the militancy-ridden Afghanistan.

Meanwhile, Taliban outfit in a statement claimed responsibility for the attack, saying a woman fighter by carrying out a suicide attack in Kunar province killed and injured 17 American soldiers on Monday evening.

Three more suicide bombers were killed in Marja of Helmand province as their device went off prematurely on the same day of Monday, said the statement.

Editor: Xiong Tong

Twin explosions kill 2, wound 19 in southern Afghan province

LASHKAR GAH, Afghanistan, June 20 (Xinhua) -- Two explosions rocked Taliban hotbed Helmand province in south Afghanistan Sunday killing two civilians and wounding 19 others, officials said.

"The first explosion occurred in front of a bank killing a child and wounding 14 others, all civilians," spokesman for provincial administration Daud Ahmadi told Xinhua.

The second explosion, he added took place in front of a school injuring five persons including two children.

Meantime, Abdul Hakim Angar the police chief of Helmand province said two persons including a child and a woman were killed in blasts.

On the other hand, sources in Lashkar Gah hospital say that 20 injured people have been taken to hospital.

Locals put the number of casualties higher than reported by officials.

Although, officials put the attacks on Taliban militants but the outfit has yet to make comment.

Editor: Bi Mingxin

Twin explosions kills 2, wound 16 in southern Afghan province

LASHKAR GAH, Afghanistan, June 20 (Xinhua) -- Two explosions rocked Taliban hotbed Helmand province in south Afghanistan Sunday killing two civilians and wounding 16 others, officials said.

Editor: Bi Mingxin

U.S. indirectly funding Afghan warlords: report

BEIJING, June 14 (Xinhuanet) --

Tens of millions of dollars of U.S. taxpayer funds are indirectly being paid to Afghan warlords to secure convoys carrying supplies to U.S. troops in Afghanistan, according to a congressional investigation on Tuesday.

A lengthy report released late Monday said eight Afghan-based private contractors working with the U.S. Defense Department through a 2.1 billion dollars transportation contract are paying several thousand dollars per truck for guards.

The contract covers at least 70 percent of all goods and services used by U.S. forces.

"This arrangement has fueled a vast protection racket run by a shadowy network of warlords, strongmen, commanders, corrupt Afghan officials, and perhaps others," Representative John Tierney, chairman of a House of Representatives national security subcommittee, said in a statement.

Tierney, a Democrat, said the system "runs afoul" of the Defense Department's own rules and may be undermining the U.S. strategic effort in Afghanistan.

(Agencies)

Editor: Pliny

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