 A Taliban commander was shot dead and an American soldier died in a training accident as violence continued ahead of Afghanistan's parliamentary elections scheduled for next month, officials said on Friday. A homemade bomb also exploded on Friday in a busy market in the southern city of Kandahar, wounding four people including a woman and child.
A U.S. military statement said Taliban commander Qari Amadullah was killed near Wazikhwa in eastern Afghanistan on Tuesday. "Amadullah was believed to have commanded up to 50 Taliban fighters in the region and was thought to be in possession of a number of weapon systems to include rockets and rocket propelled grenades," it said. Taliban spokesman Abdul Latif Hakimi confirmed the incident. Amadullah was killed during a clash with Afghan soldiers and U.S. paratroopers in which five other militants died and three U.S. servicemen were wounded. "Killing this individual will significantly disrupt Taliban operations in the region," said U.S. Brigadier-General James G. Champion.
| Presumably this isn't the same Qari who was the Talibs' intel chief. Either that, or this is the second time he's been killed. |
The U.S. military also said one American soldier died in a training accident involving explosives near Tarin Kot in the southern province of Kandahar. The death brought to six the number of U.S. military personnel killed this month in Afghanistan, three of whom died in combat. Forty-one U.S. servicemen have died combat in Afghanistan this year -- the bloodiest period for Washington since it sent troops to help overthrow the Taliban in the aftermath of the September 11 attacks on the United States in 2001. Hundreds of Afghan soldiers, police and civilians have also been killed in fighting led by remnants of the Taliban in the run-up to September 18 parliamentary polls, the next big step in Afghanistan's difficult path to stability. This week alone, Afghan and U.S. officials have reported the deaths of more than 40 insurgents. |