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| Afghanistan |
| 88 die in Afghan violence ahead of Independence Day |
| 2008-08-18 |
| Violence raged across southern and eastern Afghanistan with about 88 people killed in a series of bombings and clashes, authorities said on Sunday as the country prepared to celebrate Independence Day. Zabul Deputy Governor Gulab Shah Alikheil said 32 Taliban fighters and five private security guards died during a four-hour battle on Sunday. Alikheil said the militants ambushed a NATO supply convoy escorted by private security, sparking the battle. In Kandahar province, a roadside blast killed 10 police officers on patrol on Saturday, said Matiullah Khan, the provincial police chief. Khan blamed the Taliban. Taliban insurgents attacked police checkpoints in Nad Ali district of southern Helmand province on Friday, sparking clashes that killed 23 militants, the Interior Ministry said on Sunday. Four police were wounded and 13 other militants were detained, it said. Afghan and foreign troops clashed with militants on Saturday in a mountainous area of Zabul province, killing seven militants, said district chief Fazel Bari. In eastern Paktika province, police clashed with militants on Saturday in Shwak district, killing four other insurgents, said Ruhulla Samon, spokesman for the provincial governor. Three police were wounded. Afghan and foreign troops clashed with insurgents in the same area on Thursday, killing seven militants, the Defence Ministry said. Meanwhile, scores of police manned checkpoints around Afghanistan's capital after authorities ordered more than 7,000 officers to secure Kabul ahead of the country's Independence Day, an indication of how militants pose a growing threat to the capital. The Interior Ministry said the beefed-up police force in the capital would search buildings as well as cars to "create an environment of trust and prevent any disruptive actions by the enemy." The security increase comes a day before the country celebrates the 89th anniversary of its independence from Britain. Any breach of security during the celebration would be an embarrassment for President Hamid Karzai's government. Remains: Separately, Afghan authorities announced on Sunday they had found mass graves containing the remains of nine relatives of ex-president Mohammad Daud Khan, shot dead in a Soviet-backed coup three decades ago. The body of the ex-president, also killed in the 1978 military coup, is thought to be among those recovered from the two graves on the outskirts of the capital that were found to contain 29 bodies, deputy public health minister Faizullah Kakar told reporters. "We have identified nine members of Mr Daud Khan's family but not that of himself," said Kakar, head of a commission appointed by President Hamid Karzai in April to locate the body of Khan, Afghanistan's first president. The nine included Khan's wife, a son, two daughters, his sister and an 18-month-old grandchild as well as other relatives, Kakar said. |
| Posted by:Fred |