A+ A-

Five police, several Taliban killed in Afghan clashes

KABUL, April 19 (KUNA) -- At least five Afghan policemen were killed in a clash with militants in western Afghanistan. Separately, the US troops killed an unspecified number of Taliban in a clash in southern Afghanistan.
The first incident took place in the western Farah province, provincial officials said. Younus Rasooli, deputy governor of the province said the fighting erupted when Taliban attached a checkpost last night. He said several of the attackers had also been killed, but they did not know the exact number as their colleagues had run away with the bodies. Separately, the US-led coalition troops and Afghan army killed a number of Taliban in the southern province of Kandahar, a military statement said on Sunday. "Afghan and coalition forces killed an unknown number of militants and detained one suspect during an early morning operation to capture a senior Taliban commander," said the statement.
The clash took place in Mewand district after militants rejected to surrender peacefully and opened fire on the soldiers. "Coalition forces dropped precision munitions on the bunker that held the barricaded militants with no collateral damage," the press release stressed.
The statement did not mention the exact number of militants killed in the operation. Taliban also did not issue any comment on the coalition forces' claim. (end) gk.bz.
KUNA 191307 Apr 09NNNN