30 insurgents killed in Afghanistan ahead of vote

By Dusan Stojanovic, Associated Press Writer –

September 14, 2010

KABUL, Afghanistan –

Up to 30 insurgents have been killed in fighting in Afghanistan ahead of this week's parliamentary elections, which the Taliban want to undermine, NATO and Afghan officials said.

The military alliance said that up to 23 militants were killed in action in southern Helmand province Monday and three in eastern Wardak province Tuesday. An Afghan official said four Taliban were killed Tuesday in southeastern Zabul province.

There were no reports of casualties among joint NATO-Afghan forces.

Attacks and clashes are rising amid an allied offensive aimed at suppressing the continuing Taliban insurgency.

Meanwhile, tensions were rising ahead of Saturday's parliamentary elections. The Taliban has vowed to target polling stations and warned Afghans not to participate in what it calls a sham vote.

NATO said the coalition forces killed three "known manufacturers" of improvised explosive devices in Wardak, just west of capital Kabul.

NATO said the coalition forces were attacked on three separate occasions during a patrol in the Sangin district of Helmand province on Monday. The forces responded with airstrikes, mortars, rocket and machine gun fire, killing up to 23 insurgents.

The allied forces stopped firing when women and children moved into the compound from where the insurgent fire had originated, NATO said.

Civilian deaths in NATO military operations are a major source of contention between the alliance and Afghanistan's government, even though the United Nations says the insurgents are responsible for most civilian deaths and injuries.

Mohammad Jan Rasoolyar, spokesman for the provincial governor of Zabul, said four militants were killed and four caught alive with explosive material on Tuesday.

Also on Tuesday, 13 people were wounded in an explosion in the capital of the western province of Herat after a concert by Afghan rock star Farhad Darya, local health official Ghulam Zaid Rashid said.

Witnesses said a bomb planted on a motorbike went off in a parking lot as thousands of people were leaving the concert held at a packed stadium in the Herat city. No one immediately claimed responsibility for the blast.

A statement issued late Tuesday by Darya's managers said the bomb exploded opposite the governor's building and was meant to be a warning to governmental authorities; members of the Afghan security force were among those injured.