2ND 14 including NATO soldier killed in Afghanistan


dpa German Press Agency
Published: Tuesday December 12, 2006

Kabul- Eight people were killed and eight injured when a
suicide attacker detonated his explosives-packed vest Tuesday at the
governor's compound in Helmand province, while a NATO soldier was
killed in clashes in the same province, officials said.
"Earlier today, ISAF forces were involved in a fire-fight with
insurgents in Helmand province. As a result of the engagement, one
ISAF soldier was killed, NATO-led International Security Assistance
Force (ISAF) said in a statement on Tuesday.

The soldier was not identified and no further details were given.

The suicide attack occurred inside the compound as the governor,
Mohammad Daoud, was about to leave his office, provincial spokesman
Haji Mohayoddin told Deutsche Presse-Agentur dpa. He escaped unhurt,
sources said.

Six of the governor's security guards and two civilians were
killed in the bombing in Lashkar Gah, the provincial capital,
Mohayoddin said, while General Nabi Mullahkhail, the provincial
police chief said eight people had been wounded.

Afghanistan has seen more than 100 suicide bombings this year, a
record number.

Meanwhile, Afghan police arrested six suspected Taliban militants
on suspicion of killing two female teachers and three members of
their family on Saturday in the eastern Kunar province, the US
military said.

Taliban militants killed the two sisters in Narang district after
telling them several times to stop teaching.

Four suspects were believed to have been in possession of weapons
and explosives, which were seized during the arrest, the US military
said in a statement.

In the eastern province of Khost, four suspected militants and an
Afghan girl were killed Tuesday when Afghan and coalition troops
returned fire during a raid, the US-led coalition said.

The raid had targeted a compound near the village of Darnami. The
Afghan-coalition force demanded that the occupants surrender but they
began firing instead, the coalition said.

Four men in the compound and a 13-year-old girl were killed and an
eight-year-old girl was wounded, it said. She was taken to a
coalition hospital.

A spokesman for the coalition, Colonel Thomas Collins, said it had
information indicating that the compound was a refuge for terrorists.

Neither Afghan nor coalition forces sustained casualties in the
operation, the coalition said.

More than 3,900 people including 1,000 civilians, have been killed
in militant-related incidents this year in Afghanistan, four times
more than in 2005.

© 2006 - dpa German Press Agency