Fighting in Afghanistan left at least 24 insurgents and five Afghan security forces dead, as unknown attackers hit a house with mortar fire, wounding 20 civilians, officials said on Sunday. In a flood-hit province, authorities found bombs planted under the car of a senior Afghan Red Crescent official and outside a government refugee office. In Kabul, the education minister teamed up with the top US general in Afghanistan to thwart attacks on schools that have killed 41 students and teachers over the last year.
In eastern Paktika province, insurgents attacked an Afghan army post, leaving five soldiers and at least 18 militants dead on Sunday, the US-led coalition said. Six soldiers were hurt, three seriously, before the attackers were fended off by mortar fire from nearby military bases, said a coalition statement. Coalition troops were embedded with the Afghan troops but suffered no casualties, it said.