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Police arrest 13 suspected Taliban militants
KABUL -- Police arrested 13 suspected Taliban militants on Friday as a top American general said the resurgent hardline militia were a tactical problem for the U.S.-led coalition, but would not rule Afghanistan again. Marine Gen. Peter Pace, chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff, made his comments on a visit ahead of NATO's imminent takeover of security operations in southern provinces, where Taliban insurgents have stepped up attacks against U.S.-led coalition forces. The Taliban "may be a day-to-day tactical problem for us, but we are a long-term strategic problem for them," Pace was quoted as saying Thursday by the Department of Defence website. "They can pick and choose some battles, but they cannot take over this country again." Pace also travelled to neighbouring Pakistan on Friday to discuss security cooperation with anti-terror ally, President Gen. Pervez Musharraf, a Pakistani military statement said. He was expected back in Kabul later Friday. No further details were available. The U.S. military is trying to bolster security co-operation between neighbouring Afghanistan and Pakistan. Afghan officials accuse Pakistan of doing too little to stop militants using Pakistani soil to stage attacks in Afghanistan. Pakistan denies such claims. Police surrounded two vehicles on Friday in volatile southern Helmand province's Garmser district and arrested 13 suspected Taliban militants without a bullet being fired, area police chief Ghulam Rasool said. Police also confiscated 13 AK-47 assault rifles, heavy machine guns and eight rocket-propelled grenade launchers from the cars, Rasool said. Garmser was one of two Helmand towns briefly overrun by Taliban militants earlier this month before being reclaimed by coalition and Afghan troops. Two coalition soldiers were wounded during a clash with Taliban rebels Thursday in southern Helmand province's troublesome Sangin district, the coalition said. The soldiers' nationalities were not released. Coalition troops also used artillery to kill three suspected Taliban rebels Thursday holed up in a house following a failed ambush on a military convoy in southern Kandahar province, the coalition said. Posted by: Steve 2006-07-28 |
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