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| Afghanistan |
| 7 Afghan troops killed in Taliban raid |
| 2003-12-22 |
| At least seven Afghan soldiers were killed and several wounded in two separate attacks blamed on Taliban guerrillas in the volatile south and east of the country, officials said on Sunday. The worst attack occurred on Saturday night in Shehroba, about 12 miles from Spin Boldak close to Pakistani border. Taliban Commander Mullah Rehmatullah told Reuters that all nine Afghan soldiers at the post were killed in the attack, in which the guerrillas used heavy machine guns and hand grenades. He said no Taliban soldiers were killed. But a deputy police chief of Spin Boldak, who did not want to be named, said five Afghan soldiers were killed and a government commander, Naik Mohammad, was wounded. He added that after the attack the Taliban retreated to nearby mountains and Afghan forces began to hunt them down. One eyewitness of the attack, Shahid Aslam Jan, said he heard a big explosion at around 10 p.m. followed by a number of small explosions. "The sound of gunfire and explosions continued for around five hours. Afterwards the Afghan soldiers arrived and started searching houses for any Taliban who might be hiding there." According to General Khan Mohammad Khan Mujahid, a senior military commander in Kandahar province where Spin Boldak is located, members of the Taliban were responsible for an attack launched from the Pakistani side of the border. Afghan authorities accuse Pakistan of not doing enough to crack down on Taliban, al Qaeda and allied Islamic militants on its soil who have been blamed for a wave of violence in Afghanistan since August that has claimed over 400 lives. In a separate incident, two government soldiers were killed late on Saturday when a vehicle in a military convoy was blown up by a suspected remote controlled device along the road linking Khost in the east to the capital Kabul. The road had been used by members of the 12,000-strong U.S. force earlier in the day. "Two soldiers lost their lives and two others have been injured who are being treated in hospital. The Taliban were behind this incident," said General Kheyal Baaz Khan, a key military commander in Khost. |
| Posted by:Dan Darling |