Afghan clashes kill '160 Taleban'

[frigidmagi]

BBC

The US-led coalition force in Afghanistan says that more than 160 Taleban fighters have been killed in two days of fighting in the south.

They say that more than 100 insurgents were killed in Helmand province, and at least 65 in neighbouring Uruzgan. One coalition soldier died, US forces said.

The Taleban denied the figures, which could not be independently verified.

Villagers said there had been a large number of civilian deaths from aerial bombardments in both provinces.

The latest violence comes as Afghan President Hamid Karzai is in New York to address the UN General Assembly.

He has been under intense pressure over the high number of civilian casualties and has repeatedly called for Western troops to exercise more care.

Violence has soared in Afghanistan and more than 3,000 people have been killed this year as Afghan and foreign forces battle Taleban fighters.

Air strikes

Southern Afghanistan has seen some of the worst of the recent bloodshed.


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What chance peace talks?

A statement issued by the coalition in relation to the Helmand violence said a combined force of the Afghan army and the coalition was patrolling near Musa Qala - a village formerly occupied by British troops but held by the Taleban for nearly a year.

Several dozen insurgents attacked the convoy from trenches and compounds and continued reinforcing their positions, the statement added.

Subsequent coalition air strikes killed more than 100 rebels, while one coalition soldier died, US forces said. The US-led coalition said the targets had been identified as Taleban positions.

The Taleban, meanwhile, gave very different figures - they said three of their fighters and 20 foreign and Afghan army forces had died.

Afghan policeman near a vehicle which caught fire after a suicide attack on a convoy of French troops in Kabul, Afghanistan
2007 has been a violent year in Afghanistan

In Uruzgan, the coalition said air strikes were called in after Afghan and US-led coalition forces were ambushed.

More than 65 suspected militants - armed with machine guns, rocket-propelled grenades and mortars were killed, the coalition statement said.

The Americans acknowledged that just three civilians had possibly been injured. Afghan officials say they believe four civilians died.

But villagers contacting the BBC say foreign air strikes have killed at least 12 civilians in Musa Qala and 12 more in Deh Rawood, just over the border in Uruzgan province.

In Helmand, more than 50 families fled their homes, villagers said.

Kandahar protest

Separately, about 200 men protested in Kandahar province, saying that foreign forces killed a religious leader and his brother when they stormed their home on Tuesday.

Both the US-led and Nato-led forces told the BBC they had no information on the incident.

Earlier on Wednesday, the Interior Ministry told the BBC that a suicide bomber on a motorbike attacked the Spin Boldak border post adjoining Pakistan, killing four guards and several civilians.

Exact details of the attack were not immediately available.

Even in the age of instant info... We still have no fucking clue what's going on.