US-led airstrikes kill Afghan civilians

Press TV, Mon Jan 24, 2011 2:12PM

Two separate airstrikes by US-led foreign forces have killed at least five civilians and wounded several others in various parts of Afghanistan.

Two civilians were killed and another wounded in a US airstrike in the eastern province of Logar.

A spokesman for the Logar governor told Press TV that the victims were mine workers.

American infantry took the dead bodies before leaving the area.

Another airstrike by foreign forces killed three more Afghan civilians in the northwestern province of Badghis. Several others were also wounded in the attack.

Hundreds of civilians have lost their lives in the US-led airstrikes and ground operations in various parts of Afghanistan over the past few months, with Afghans becoming more outraged over the seemingly endless number of deadly assaults.

The Afghan interior ministry says more than 2,000 civilians lost their lives in violence across Afghanistan in 2010.

Civilians have been the main victims of violence in Afghanistan, particularly in the country's troubled southern and eastern provinces, where they are killed by both militant and foreign fire.

Civilian casualties have long been a source of friction between the Afghan government and US-led foreign forces.

The surge in violence comes despite the presence of 150,000 foreign troops, which are engaged in the so-called war on terrorism. The war in Afghanistan, with civilian and military casualties at record highs, has become the longest war in US history.

JR/HGH/MMN

Polish soldier killed in Afghanistan

Press TV, Sat Jan 22, 2011 11:34PM

Polish soldiers carry the coffin of a fallen comrade. (file photo) A Polish soldier and a civilian medic have been killed and two other people injured in a bombing attack in eastern Afghanistan.

The NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) said that in the attack, an improvised explosive device went off under an armored vehicle in Ghazni province on Saturday, AFP reported.

The latest incident brings the death toll for Polish soldiers based in Afghanistan to 23. Poland currently has 2,600 troops stationed in the Central Asian country.

Polish forces are deployed in the eastern province of Ghazni.

Improvised explosive devices (IEDs) are by far the most lethal weapon Taliban militants use against foreign troops, Afghan forces, and civilians.

The latest death brings the number of fatalities for foreign troops in Afghanistan to 27 so far this year.

Last year was the deadliest year for foreign military forces deployed in Afghanistan, with a death toll of 711. The figure eclipsed the previous record of 521 in 2009.

Hundreds of civilians have also lost their lives in US-led operations in various parts of Afghanistan, with Afghans becoming more and more outraged over the seemingly endless number of deadly assaults.

And this situation is adding fuel to the fire of anti-US sentiment in Afghanistan and the rest of the Islamic world.

MP/AGB/HGL

Three US-led troops killed in Afghan war

Press TV, Sat Jan 22, 2011 5:48PM

The Taliban have killed at least three foreign soldiers as militants intensify their violent campaign against the US-led forces in the war-ravaged country.

Taliban militants claim to have killed three French soldiers in the country's volatile east.

A Taliban spokesman said the killings took place in an Afghan-French military base in Kabul Province on Friday afternoon. He claimed that a militant, recruited among Afghan forces months ago, conducted the operation.

The Taliban spokesman also claimed that the militant managed to escape after killing the French soldiers.

Foreign forces have not yet commented on the incident.

France currently has about 3,750 troops in Afghanistan.

Nearly 60 French soldiers have been killed in Afghanistan since France joined the US-led operation in the country nine years ago.

The developments also come at a time when the US-led war in Afghanistan seems to be at a crucial stage with militants believed to be gaining ground.

The 2001 US-led invasion of Afghanistan was launched with the official objective of curbing militancy and bringing peace and stability to the country.

Nine years on, however, American and Afghan officials admit that the country remains unstable as civilians continue to pay the heaviest price.

The security situation remains fragile in Afghanistan despite the presence of 150,000 US-led foreign forces in the country.

According to official figures, more than 2,307 US-led soldiers have been killed in Afghanistan so far.

The increasing number of troop casualties in Afghanistan has caused widespread anger in the US and other NATO member states, undermining public support for the continuation of the Afghan war.

JR/HGH/MMN

6 Taliban fighters killed in Afghanistan

People's Daily, 19:36, January 24, 2011      

Six Afghanis (described in this news report as Taliban militants) were killed as Afghan and NATO-led forces conducted a search and cleanup operation in northern Lashkar Gah capital of Taliban hub Helmand province on Monday, an official said.

"A combined unit of special operation force raided Taliban hideouts some 15 km north of Lashkar Gah in the wee hours of Monday as a result six militants were killed,"spokesman of provincial administration Daud Ahmadi told Xinhua.

He also said that the joint forces also captured four injured militants during the operation in the province, 555 km south of Afghan capital Kabul.

Taliban militants have not made comment so far.

Helmand and the neighboring Kandahar province the birthplace of Taliban have been experiencing increasing militancy over the past couple of years despite continued military operations conducted by Afghan and NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) since mid 2010.

Source:Xinhua

NATO: 2 Taliban leaders killed in east Afghanistan

AP, January 24, 2011 – 

KABUL, Afghanistan –

NATO says its air strikes have killed two key local Taliban leaders in eastern Afghanistan.

The international military alliance says in a statement issued on Monday that its forces killed the Taliban shadow administrator for Nangarhar province's Hisarak district in a strike last Friday. NATO had previously announced the strike but said they were unsure if Maulawi Anwar had been killed.

NATO also says that it killed a Taliban operative in Logar province's Pul-e-Alam district in a strike on Sunday. The coalition says the man, Abdul Bari, helped Taliban leaders get weapons and vehicles.