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| Afghanistan |
| Afghanistan: Taliban kill three police in northern attack |
| 2009-08-13 |
| [ADN Kronos] Taliban fighters attacked a district police headquarters in northern Afghanistan overnight, killing the police chief and two of his men, an official said. The Taliban attack, which led to a four-hour gun battle into the early hours of Wednesday in Kunduz, is the latest in a wave of rising violence across the country a week before the 20 August election, which militants have vowed to disrupt. The attackers struck with small arms fire and rocket propelled grenades under cover of darkness, said Sheikh Saduddin, administrator of the Dasht-e-Archi district of Kunduz province. The province, north of the Hindu Kush mountains and far from the southern war zone, has generally been quiet since Taliban militants were driven from power in 2001, but has seen escalating attacks in recent months. This week the overall commander of NATO and U.S. troops in Afghanistan said militants were advancing from their traditional bastions in the south and east into previously quieter areas in the north and west. Meanwhile around 400 US marines and Afghan troops launched a massive military operation in southern Helmand province early Wednesday. Operation 'Eastern Resolve II' is focused on the district of Nawzad, in the north-east of the province. Violence in Afghanistan, at its worst since US and Afghan forces overthrew the Taliban in 2001, has increased further ahead of the election. The United States has sent tens of thousands of extra troops to Afghanistan this year, where the Western force now numbers more than 100,000 troops. President Hamid Karzai said on Tuesday the militants would not be able to disrupt the country's election. |
| Posted by:Fred |
| #2 er, foreign computer with teeny tiny keys in the wrong places. Meant to say perhaps they are fleeing from rather than advancing from. Wouldn't you rather face Afghan police than US Marines? |
| Posted by: Glenmore 2009-08-13 09:44 |
| #1 militants were advancing from |
| Posted by: Glenmore 2009-08-13 09:42 |