U.S. and Afghan troops patrolling the rugged border with Pakistan came under fire from alleged fugitive Taliban, and killed 22 in airstrikes called in to repel the attack. However, Gen. Atiqullah Luddin, a regional military commander based in nearby Logar province, said his men were involved in the Sunday patrol and that 10 Taliban had been killed and two arrested, and that no airstrikes were involved.
| Are they talking about the same firefight? I always tended to notice airstrikes... |
Both officials said two Afghan soldiers were injured in the fighting. Mohammed Ali Jalali, governor of Paktika province, said the Americans and Afghans were in Barmal district, just a couple of kilometers from the Pakistan border, when they were attacked by rocket-propelled grenades, heavy machine guns and Kalashnikov rifles. The troops called in airstrikes, he said, and a wave of heavy bombardment hit the unpopulated area near the village of Shkin, 220 kilometers south of Kabul. Taliban and al-Qaida rebels have been launching increasingly bold assaults in recent months, raiding police stations, killing aid workers and confronting U.S. troops in growing numbers. |