Taliban ambush Afghan militia unit, two dead
KANDAHAR, Afghanistan, Feb 13 (Reuters) - Taliban guerrillas ambushed a militia unit working with U.S. forces in southern Afghanistan, killing two men and capturing six, the leader of the militia group said on Monday.
Militia commander Dawood said the ambush took place late on Sunday in the southern province of Helmand where 3,300 British troops will soon be based as part of a NATO plan to expand its Afghanistan peacekeeping force.
Violence also erupted in neighbouring Uruzgan province and a Taliban spokesman said his fighters had killed some U.S. troops. A U.S. military spokesman said an operation was going on and he could not disclose details.
Six Taliban were killed in the fighting in Uruzgan, where about 1,400 Dutch peacekeepers are due to be based, the Pakistan-based Afghan Islamic Press quoted police as saying.
A roadside bomb in Kabul wounded an Afghan soldier, police said. It was the latest in a wave of bomb attacks that has raised fears as NATO countries prepare to send more troops and the United States aims to cut back its strength in Afghanistan.
Most of the bombs and guerrilla attacks have been in the south and east, near the border with Pakistan. President Hamid Karzai says he will raise concern about Taliban operating from Pakistan when he visits Islamabad this week.
A Taliban commander, Mullah Mujahid, said his men had killed five of militiamen and captured six in the Helmand clash. One Taliban fighter had been killed, he said by telephone.
Helmand has been plagued by insurgency since the Taliban were forced from power by U.S and Afghan opposition troops in late 2001. It is also a major opium poppy-growing region.
About 200 Taliban launched a series of attacks on government forces in Helmand on Feb. 3, when more than 20 people were killed in the biggest battle in the country in months.
Troops from Britain, Canada and the Netherlands are leading a planned expansion of Afghanistan's NATO peacekeeping force into the south where a separate U.S.-led force has been fighting the Taliban and hunting militant leaders. (Additional reporting by Sayed Salahuddin in KABUL)
Militia commander Dawood said the ambush took place late on Sunday in the southern province of Helmand where 3,300 British troops will soon be based as part of a NATO plan to expand its Afghanistan peacekeeping force.
Violence also erupted in neighbouring Uruzgan province and a Taliban spokesman said his fighters had killed some U.S. troops. A U.S. military spokesman said an operation was going on and he could not disclose details.
Six Taliban were killed in the fighting in Uruzgan, where about 1,400 Dutch peacekeepers are due to be based, the Pakistan-based Afghan Islamic Press quoted police as saying.
A roadside bomb in Kabul wounded an Afghan soldier, police said. It was the latest in a wave of bomb attacks that has raised fears as NATO countries prepare to send more troops and the United States aims to cut back its strength in Afghanistan.
Most of the bombs and guerrilla attacks have been in the south and east, near the border with Pakistan. President Hamid Karzai says he will raise concern about Taliban operating from Pakistan when he visits Islamabad this week.
A Taliban commander, Mullah Mujahid, said his men had killed five of militiamen and captured six in the Helmand clash. One Taliban fighter had been killed, he said by telephone.
Helmand has been plagued by insurgency since the Taliban were forced from power by U.S and Afghan opposition troops in late 2001. It is also a major opium poppy-growing region.
About 200 Taliban launched a series of attacks on government forces in Helmand on Feb. 3, when more than 20 people were killed in the biggest battle in the country in months.
Troops from Britain, Canada and the Netherlands are leading a planned expansion of Afghanistan's NATO peacekeeping force into the south where a separate U.S.-led force has been fighting the Taliban and hunting militant leaders. (Additional reporting by Sayed Salahuddin in KABUL)
posted by Marko at 2/13/2006 07:28:00 AM
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