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| Afghanistan |
| Bomb in Kabul, clashes kill dozen militants |
| 2008-08-31 |
| A suicide car bomb exploded near international troops in the Afghan capital on Saturday, leaving one wounded, while soldiers killed more than a dozen militants in clashes elsewhere, authorities said. The Taliban insurgent movement said it had carried out the bombing. A suicide attacker blew up a bomb-filled vehicle in the west of Kabul, city police chief Muhammad Ayoub Salangi told AFP. "There was a suicide bombing against international forces. Thank God there were no casualties. The bomber died and the vehicle is in pieces," he said. NATO's International Security Assistance Force confirmed an improvised explosive device had blown up near a convoy and said it had one soldier wounded. It would not give the nationality of the affected troops. The defence ministry said meanwhile that more than 10 militants were killed in battles in Helmand that erupted after insurgents attacked an Afghan army patrol. About 14 other militants were detained in other operations by Afghan troops in Khost near the border with Pakistan, it said in a statement. The United States-led coalition said separately its soldiers, working with Afghan troops, had killed "several" militants after coming under attack in Kapisa. Air strikes were called in against a rebel compound after civilians were cleared from the area, the force said in a statement. Civilians: Meanwhile, two senior Afghan police officers alleged on Saturday that the US-led coalition killed five civilians in air strikes aimed at Taliban insurgents, but the force denied causing any civilian casualties. "Five civilians, including two women and a child, were killed in an air strike by coalition forces early this morning," Sayed Sakhidad, criminal investigation police chief for Kapisa province, told AFP. Five Taliban were also killed, he said. Kapisa's deputy provincial police chief Abdul Hamid Hakimi also said "five civilians and as many rebels, including a militant commander, were killed in the strikes." He gave the names of the civilian dead, whom he said were from the same family and included two females and three males, one of them 17 years old. The coalition dismissed the allegations. "There were no civilian casualties in that incident," a spokesman said. The coalition said in a statement earlier that "several militants" were killed in the operation in Kapisa's Nijrab district, which started on Friday. Troops were looking for a Taliban commander involved in smuggling weapons and attacks on foreign soldiers when they came under attack from a compound, the coalition said. The troops then ordered militants to leave the compound. "Several women and children exited the compound and were moved to a safe area at which time coalition forces again came under AK-47 and RPG (rocket-propelled grenade) fire," the statement said. "Coalition force responded with precision air strikes, killing several militants." Allegations of civilian casualties are difficult to verify. |
| Posted by:Fred |