31 Taliban rebels killed in Afghan attacks

KABUL – At least 31 militants linked to Afghanistan’s toppled Taliban regime were killed in clashes with government forces near the border with Pakistan, the defence ministry said yesterday.

Afghan troops killed 28 militants who attacked a security post near the border in the southeastern province of Paktika late on Sunday, ministry spokesman Mohammed Zaher Azimi told AFP. The attack on the Afghan National Army (ANA) at the Angor Hada border post sparked a clash that lasted several hours, he said.”Twenty-eight bodies of the enemy were left at the site, four ANA soldiers were wounded and one of the wounded is in critical condition,” he said.The Afghan army seized two Russian-made rocket launchers and 10 rockets.Another military source said the militants had been able to cross over from Pakistan under the cover of rockets apparently fired from Pakistani territory.Separately, another three militants were killed after they ambushed a truck transporting supplies for US-led coalition forces in the Sarobi area of the province, he said.A civilian driver was also killed.”An ANA patrol got to the area.As a result of a heavy exchange of fire, three enemy elements were killed and two of them were arrested with two AK-47 rifles.Two ANA officers were also wounded,” Azimi said.He blamed the attacks on the “enemies of Afghanistan”, a term often used for militants linked to the Taliban regime, which was ousted in a US-led campaign in 2001 for failing to surrender al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden.In another attack on Sunday, two Afghan soldiers were wounded in a clash with suspected militants in neighbouring Zabul province, Azimi said.”There is no information of casualties on the enemy side,” he said.And on Saturday in southern Kandahar province, three suspected militants were captured, including a local Taliban commander named as Agha Jan, he said.Seventeen AK-47 rifles were also confiscated.The violence is the worst since Afghanistan held its first parliamentary elections for three decades on September 18 and highlights the war-wracked country’s continuing security problems.Southern and southeastern Afghanistan have borne the brunt of an insurgency launched by Taliban loyalists to bring the fundamentalist movement back to power.The unrest has claimed around 1 300 lives so far this year, compared with 850 last year.Most of the bloodshed has been in areas facing Pakistan, prompting accusations by Kabul that Islamabad is failing to curb militants operating from its rugged, lawless tribal areas bordering Afghanistan.On Sunday Pakistani soldiers killed six militants who attacked a checkpost in the North Waziristan tribal zone, where security forces have launched a major operation in recent weeks, the Pakistani military said.Pakistan argues that it has taken strong action against the rebels – many of whom fled Afghanistan after the Taliban fell – resulting in the deaths of hundreds of militants and more than 250 soldiers since late 2003.- Nampa-AFPThe attack on the Afghan National Army (ANA) at the Angor Hada border post sparked a clash that lasted several hours, he said.”Twenty-eight bodies of the enemy were left at the site, four ANA soldiers were wounded and one of the wounded is in critical condition,” he said.The Afghan army seized two Russian-made rocket launchers and 10 rockets.Another military source said the militants had been able to cross over from Pakistan under the cover of rockets apparently fired from Pakistani territory.Separately, another three militants were killed after they ambushed a truck transporting supplies for US-led coalition forces in the Sarobi area of the province, he said.A civilian driver was also killed.”An ANA patrol got to the area.As a result of a heavy exchange of fire, three enemy elements were killed and two of them were arrested with two AK-47 rifles.Two ANA officers were also wounded,” Azimi said.He blamed the attacks on the “enemies of Afghanistan”, a term often used for militants linked to the Taliban regime, which was ousted in a US-led campaign in 2001 for failing to surrender al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden.In another attack on Sunday, two Afghan soldiers were wounded in a clash with suspected militants in neighbouring Zabul province, Azimi said.”There is no information of casualties on the enemy side,” he said.And on Saturday in southern Kandahar province, three suspected militants were captured, including a local Taliban commander named as Agha Jan, he said.Seventeen AK-47 rifles were also confiscated.The violence is the worst since Afghanistan held its first parliamentary elections for three decades on September 18 and highlights the war-wracked country’s continuing security problems.Southern and southeastern Afghanistan have borne the brunt of an insurgency launched by Taliban loyalists to bring the fundamentalist movement back to power.The unrest has claimed around 1 300 lives so far this year, compared with 850 last year.Most of the bloodshed has been in areas facing Pakistan, prompting accusations by Kabul that Islamabad is failing to curb militants operating from its rugged, lawless tribal areas bordering Afghanistan.On Sunday Pakistani soldiers killed six militants who attacked a checkpost in the North Waziristan tribal zone, where security forces have launched a major operation in recent weeks, the Pakistani military said.Pakistan argues that it has taken strong action against the rebels – many of whom fled Afghanistan after the Taliban fell – resulting in the deaths of hundreds of militants and more than 250 soldiers since late 2003.- Nampa-AFP