13 Taliban killed in US-Afghan raid

KANDAHAR – Afghan and US forces searching for a kidnapped election candidate have killed 13 suspected rebels and arrested another 40 in a raid on a Taliban hideout, local officials said yesterday.

The joint forces surrounded the rebel den between the districts of Ghorak and Khakrez in the southern province of Kandahar on Sunday, said defence ministry spokesman General Mohammed Zahir Azimi. “We arrested 40 Taliban in the area after a gunbattle,” he said.He said there were no US or Afghan casualties and he had no details of the toll on the Taliban side.Kandahar governor Assadullah Khaled told reporters later yesterday that “13 Taliban were killed as a result of aerial bombing of the surrounding mountains of Ghorak.”The US-led military in Afghanistan – which has around 20 000 troops in the war-shattered country hunting down Islamic extremists and providing security – had no details on the incident.Fighters from the ousted regime abducted the candidate in upcoming parliamentary elections as well as a district governor and his three guards in Ghorak on Friday.They later claimed to have killed the five.”As of yet we have not been able to find the bodies of the five kidnapped people,” defence ministry spokesman Azimi said.Candidate Mohammed Yaqoob, the governor of Ghorak district, Haji Mohammed Nawab and the three police guards were abducted from a road 90 kilometres north-west of Kandahar city on Friday.- Nampa-AFP”We arrested 40 Taliban in the area after a gunbattle,” he said.He said there were no US or Afghan casualties and he had no details of the toll on the Taliban side.Kandahar governor Assadullah Khaled told reporters later yesterday that “13 Taliban were killed as a result of aerial bombing of the surrounding mountains of Ghorak.”The US-led military in Afghanistan – which has around 20 000 troops in the war-shattered country hunting down Islamic extremists and providing security – had no details on the incident.Fighters from the ousted regime abducted the candidate in upcoming parliamentary elections as well as a district governor and his three guards in Ghorak on Friday.They later claimed to have killed the five.”As of yet we have not been able to find the bodies of the five kidnapped people,” defence ministry spokesman Azimi said.Candidate Mohammed Yaqoob, the governor of Ghorak district, Haji Mohammed Nawab and the three police guards were abducted from a road 90 kilometres north-west of Kandahar city on Friday.- Nampa-AFP