KABUL, Aug 29: Afghan forces clashed with Taliban fighters in the southern province of Zabul for a fifth consecutive day on Friday after reports of the deaths of another 30 militants, a local official said.
The US military also said special forces troops in the area had come under attack in the Dai Chopan district, where hundreds of Taliban guerillas are being hunted and one soldier was wounded on Thursday.
“In Chinaran the fighting is ongoing,” Noor Ahmad Hamraz, secretary to the governor of Zabul, said by satellite telephone.
“Overnight there was fighting until 6am (0630 PST). We received reports that 30 Taliban were killed by that time.”
Afghan commanders say well over 100 Taliban have been killed in the clashes, although the US military, which has contributed dozens of special forces soldiers and pounded Taliban positions from the air, has confirmed only 14 killing.
An estimated 450 Afghan soldiers and their US allies are hunting up to 1,000 Taliban who were active in central Uruzgan province before fleeing southeast into Zabul.
In Zabul, the largest concentration of Taliban forces since it lost power has raised concern that security is deteriorating across much of southern Afghanistan, undermining the authority of US-backed President Hamid Karzai.
Three soldiers killed: About 200km south of Dai Chopan, at least three Afghan government troops were killed and a commander was kidnapped when suspected Taliban guerillas attacked checkpoints close to the Pakistan border.
The deputy police chief of Spin Boldak district, Mullah Abdul Manan, told Reuters Taliban fighters had attacked posts to the east and southeast of Spin Boldak town on Thursday night. All are within a few kilometres of the Pakistani border.
Mana said three Afghan soldiers had been killed and one commander, Haji Wali Shah, kidnapped. Four Taliban were wounded, but escaped towards Pakistan.
Afghanistan says most of the Taliban are crossing from Pakistan to carry out attacks and blames Pakistan for not doing enough to stop them.
Mullah Abdul Samad, a Taliban commander, told Reuters by telephone from an undisclosed location that 15 government soldiers had been killed in the attacks.
He also said one Afghan army vehicle had been destroyed and one commander kidnapped.—Reuters
