 KANDAHAR, Afghanistan (AP) - Fighting across southern Afghanistan has left at least 28 suspected Taliban rebels dead as violence rages on in the countdown to crucial legislative elections next month, officials said Monday. The bloodiest battle occurred in Zabul province Sunday when Afghan forces attacked a group of suspected militants, killing 16 and arresting one, the Defense Ministry said in a statement. Among the dead was a local Taliban commander, Mullah Nasir, it said.
Separately in Zabul, alleged insurgents mistakenly detonated a mine that was intended to hit a convoy of U.S.-led coalition and Afghan forces Sunday, killing one militant and wounding another, Sori district chief Rovi Khan said. On the same day in neighboring Uruzgan province's Dehrawud district, a gunbattle between Afghan soldiers and insurgents left five militants dead, the ministry statement said. Then in an adjacent district, Tirin Kot, police hunted down and killed six suspected guerrillas who attacked a highway checkpoint, provincial Gov. Jan Mohammed Khan said. Nine alleged militants also were arrested in a sweep of the area. No security forces were hurt in any of the clashes, according to the statement and governor.
| Hunting them down means they've got the intel to drive their operations now, rather than thrashing blindly as they have on some previous occasions. |
Khan said the police and Afghan army were on the offensive across his province to prevent the Taliban and other militants from disrupting legislative elections on Sept. 18. Nearly 1,000 people have died in violence since March. Officials have warned of further unrest leading up to the polls, which are seen as a major step toward democracy in Afghanistan after more than two decades of war and civil strife. |