2ND 33 Taliban killed by Afghan and coalition forces

Deutsche Presse-Agentur dpa
Published: Wednesday September 27, 2006

Kabul- A total of 33 suspected Taliban militants have been killed by Afghan security forces and coalition troops during a 48- hour period, officials said Wednesday. Some 25 suspected militants were killed early Wednesday in southern Afghanistan, the NATO-led International Security Assistance Forces (ISAF) said in a statement.

"Afghan National Police reports indicate that the Afghan security forces killed at least 25 insurgents near Garmsir district, in the southern province of Helmand," the statement said.

Afghan police and Afghan army forces engaged a group of militants after a police checkpoint came under small arms fire, the statement continued.

Unconfirmed reports said two Afghan security personnel died in the clashes, which came a day after 18 Muslim pilgrims were killed and 17 others injured in a suicide attack at the gate of the provincial administrative headquarters in Helmand.

Some 4,500 British troops under the NATO-led ISAF force are deployed against Taliban insurgents in the region.

In separate incidents, Afghan and coalition forces killed eight suspected Taliban and arrested 17 others in the south-east and north- east of the country over the past two days, officials said on Wednesday.

Eight rebels were killed and 16 arrested in a joint operation in Yusouf Khel district in the south-eastern province of Paktika on Tuesday, the Afghan Defence Ministry said.

The ministry said guns, a rocket launcher, a jeep and a motorbike were confiscated by Afghan soldiers during the operation, which took place under Operation Mountain Fury.

That operation, which draws on some 4,000 Afghan and 3,000 US forces was launched 11 days ago in five provinces in central and south-east Afghanistan - Paktika, Khost, Ghazni, Paktya and Logar - to rout the resurgent Taliban.

Meanwhile, a suicide car bomber killed himself and injured a civilian Wednesday in an attack on Canadian troops serving with ISAF in the city of Kandahar.

None of the soldiers were hurt, the force said. ISAF spokesman Quentin Innis said one ISAF vehicle was damaged but was able to drive away from the scene.

The Taliban claimed responsibility for the attack.

Also on Wednesday, US-led coalition and Afghan forces arrested a known explosives expert in the north-eastern province of Kunar.

The man who was arrested in Asadabad, capital of Kunar province, "is the leader of a cell that planned IED (improvised explosive device) attacks against Afghan and coalition forces in Kunar region," a coalition statement said.

Taliban rebels regularly target coalition and Afghan patrols with roadside bombs in Kunar.

© 2006 DPA - Deutsche Presse-Agentur dpa