Kabul - Six Afghan police and 18 militants were killed when
Taliban fighters attacked several police posts in a second attempt in
three days to capture a provincial capital in southern Afghanistan,
police said Wednesday.
Taliban militants attacked a police post on the outskirts of
Lashkargah, the capital of Helmand province, on Tuesday night,
killing six policemen, provincial police chief Assadullah Shirzad
said.
Taliban spokesman Qari Mohammad Yousif Ahmadi, talking about the
same firefight, said Taliban fighters killed 12 police and soldiers
in their attacks on three security posts. Ahmadi spoke by phone from
an undisclosed location.
In another incident, Shirzad said, police had intelligence
information that Taliban fighters had gathered near the provincial
capital to attack several police posts.
In a pre-emptive police action, 18 Taliban militants, including
two commanders, were killed Tuesday night in the Anar Bagh area of
Lashkargah city.
'Mullah Saboor and Mullah Gul, two Taliban commanders, were among
18 militants killed in the firefight,' Shirzad said.
He said seven Taliban and three police officers were wounded in
the clash.
Taliban militants are well-entrenched in Helmand, where more than
8,000 British troops are stationed. The British soldiers are part of
around 50,000 NATO-commanded troops deployed to the country from 40
nations.
The militants attacked several police posts Saturday night in an
attempt to capture the provincial capital but were pushed by Afghan
and NATO forces. More than 60 militants were killed in ground attacks
and NATO airstrike.
Helmand, which is also the largest opium-producing province in the
country, has seen numerous clashes between the Taliban and allied
forces since the beginning of this year.
Provincial officials believe that hundreds of foreign fighters
have poured into the province recently to back indigenous militants
in their insurgency.
More than 4,000 people - mostly insurgents - have been killed in
the Afghan conflict so far this year, according to figures provided
by military sources and tallied by dpa.
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