2 Italian NATO Soldiers, 14 Afghanis Killed, According to NATO Sources, May 17, 2010

2 Italian NATO Soldiers, 14 Afghanis Killed, According to NATO Sources

May 17, 2010

Editor's Note:

Today's news stories from Afghanistan are biased in favor of NATO sources due to the lack of pro-Taliban sources, as the Taliban website (alemarah.info) is off line.

May 17: Afghan-ISAF Operations in Kandahar, Helmand

5/17/10 | ISAF Public Affairs Office

ISAF Joint Command - Afghanistan 2010-05-CA-069 For Immediate Release

KABUL, Afghanistan (May 17, 2010) -

An Afghan-international security force detained two suspected militants (Taliban fighters) in Kandahar last night.

The combined force searched a compound in north Kandahar City after intelligence information indicated insurgent (Afghani resistance) activity. The targeted compound reportedly belongs to a known Kandahar improvised explosive device (IED) facilitator. The insurgent (Taliban Movement) is responsible for suicide attacks in Kandahar City.

No shots were fired and no Afghan citizens were harmed during the operation.

In the Nad-e Ali district of Helmand Province yesterday, a joint security patrol discovered a weapons cache consisting of one shotgun, two rifles, one pistol, small-arms ammunition and a bag of miscellaneous IED materials. The cache was confiscated for exploitation.

Also in Nad-e Ali district yesterday, another Afghan-international patrol found a cache containing 136 kilograms (300 pounds) of marijuana seed, 6 kg (15 lbs) of poppy seed, 4.5 kg (10 lbs) of hashish, 45 kg (100 lbs) of ammonium nitrate and a small container of an unknown white substance. The cache was confiscated and will be destroyed.

A local Afghan informed a joint patrol of insurgent fighters with possible IEDs and rocket-propelled grenades in the Musa Qalah district of Helmand Province yesterday. ISAF forces cordoned off the area while Afghan National Army members went inside the compound to investigate. The search of the compound led to 120 kilograms (264 pounds) of opium, two AK-47s and 500 rounds of ammunition. The weapons and drugs were confiscated and five individuals were detained.

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NATO death toll hits 202 in Afghanistan this year

by Karim Talbi –

May 17, 2010

KABUL (AFP) –

The deaths of 202 NATO soldiers in 2010 marked the deadliest January to mid-May in the nearly nine-year Afghan war, as the Taliban fight escalates and the West pours thousands more troops into battle.

The grim milestone was recorded in an AFP tally based on the independent icasualties.org website, after four NATO soldiers were killed on Monday.

Two Italians were killed in northwestern Afghanistan by a roadside bomb, the weapon of choice of Taliban-led insurgents fighting the Western-backed government and around 130,000 US-led foreign troops in the country.

Two other soldiers, whose nationalities were not released, died in similar attacks in western and southern Afghanistan, the military said.

Italy is currently the fifth largest contributor of troops to the NATO force in Afghanistan, with 3,300 troops in the International Security Assistance Force, and heads the western regional command headquartered in Herat.

From January to end-May 2009, 119 NATO soldiers died in Afghanistan. Overall 520 NATO died in 2009, the deadliest year so far for US-led foreign troops since the 2001 US-led invasion brought down the Taliban regime.

Since summer 2009, one or two NATO soldiers have died on average each day. The United States and its NATO allies are increasing to 150,000 their military deployment in Afghanistan. About two thirds of the troops are American.

The United States believes the "surge" of troops can wrest the initiative from the Taliban in key population centres and allow American forces to start withdrawing from the unpopular and costly conflict next year.

Commanders have long warned that an influx of new troops would lead to an increase in military fatalities, particularly when the fighting season peaks during the warmer summer months.

The first major US-led offensive of the new strategy encountered stiff resistance in Marjah, part of the poppy-growing belt of southern province Helmand, and its achievements have been questioned in the US press.

According to a poll carried out by London-based think tank, the International Council on Security and Development, 61 percent of Afghanis feel more negative about NATO forces than before the Marjah offensive.

Three suicide bombers launched a coordinated assault on a police headquarters in Kandahar overnight, damaging the compound and sparking a gun battle, Afghan police said.

The attack underscored the growing threat posed by the Taliban in Kandahar, their home and regarded as the country's most important battleground.

The compound had most of its windows broken and was littered with bullets, blood and the suicide attackers' body parts, an AFP reporter said.

The Taliban, spokesman Yousuf Ahmadi said, claimed responsibility for the attack.

The Afghan interior ministry said three policemen were wounded.

Taliban-led fighters have stepped up coordinated gun and suicide bomb assaults on the government as their resistance movement gathers pace.

In eastern Afghanistan, another Taliban stronghold, fighters ambushed and killed a pro-government cleric along with his brother and his driver in Kunar province, officials said.

Rehman Gul was a former anti-Soviet resistance commander and prominent tribal elder in the district of Chapa Dara.

He played a mediator's role in tribal disputes in the district and was respected by the community, provincial police chief Khalilullah Ziyayee said.

Speaking to AFP, Ziyayee blamed Sunday's attack on "enemies of Afghanistan," a term often used to refer to Taliban insurgents.

Three explosions in southern Afghanistan on Sunday killed eight civilians including three children and two policemen, the interior ministry said.

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