KANDAHAR, Aug 2: Dozens of Afghan police raided Taliban hideouts in southern Afghan-istan, killing 18 militants and injuring four others, police said on Wednesday.
A policeman was also killed during the day-long raid on Taliban strongholds in Helmand province’s troubled Garmser district on Tuesday, district police chief Mohammad Rasoul Aka said.
The raid was launched to “clear” Taliban. “Our operations will continue,” the police commander said. He would not give details, citing security reasons.
The Taliban are still active mostly in southern and eastern Afghanistan where they carry out regular attacks.
On Monday NATO’s International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) took over from the coalition in six southern provinces, including Helmand where most of around 4,000 British soldiers in the country are based. Three British soldiers were killed in Helmand on Tuesday.
The coalition will continue its counter-insurgency operations in the south while the 8,000-strong ISAF force in the region intends to put a greater focus on development.
DANISH CAMP: Taliban insurgents attacked a Danish camp in southern Afghanistan on Wednesday, seriously wounding one Nato soldier, in the third assault on Denmark’s contingent since it deployed to the region last week.
The Danish soldier injured in the attack on the camp in the remote district of Musa Qala, in Helmand province, was transferred to a hospital in the city of Kandahar.—AFP/AP
