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| Afghanistan |
| 15 Afghan guards killed in attack |
| 2007-12-18 |
| Taliban fighters killed 15 Afghan guards working for a private security company who were guarding a convoy of fuel tankers in western Afghanistan, an official said Tuesday. Six Taliban were killed in the ensuing fight. Several militants also were killed in airstrikes and a subsequent operation by U.S.-led coalition troops in the country's south on Monday, the coalition said. Between six and eight vehicles of a private security company were guarding a convoy of fuel tankers when the Taliban attacked early Tuesday, said Farah province Gov. Muhaidin Baluch. Fifteen guards were killed and five were wounded, Baluch said. One fuel tanker was set on fire, he said. Baluch said the guards worked for USPI — Houston-based US Protection and Investigations. USPI officials did not immediately return telephone messages seeking comment left at the company's Houston headquarters. They could not be reached for comment at its offices in Kabul. However, two USPI employees contacted by The Associated Press, who asked not to be identified because they were not authorized to talk to the media, said the company's guards were not involved. One employee said Afghan officials in the south tend to identify all security companies as USPI, even when they are not. Gen. Khail Buz Sherzai, the provincial police chief, said officials were not sure of the name of the security company. Baluch said the tankers were traveling from the western city of Herat to a military outpost in Lashkar Gah, the provincial capital of Helmand province, the region that has seen the heaviest fighting in Afghanistan this year. Elsewhere in Farah, fighting between police and militants left two of the militants dead, said Gen. Khail Buz Sherzai, the provincial police chief. In southern Afghanistan, a U.S.-led coalition airstrike on a Taliban commander and subsequent operation in Helmand province killed several militants Monday, the coalition said. The strike targeted a Taliban commander involved in the movement of foreign fighters and suicide bombers, it said. |
| Posted by:ed |