Nearly 90 militants, six police killed in Afghan province (Roundup)

Kabul - Afghan officials claimed on Wednesday that their forces backed by coalition air support killed 88 militants in southern province of Helmand, where the clash with Taliban also left six police forces killed. In latest attack in the province, six Afghan police forces were killed when Taliban militants attacked a police post on the outskirts of Lashkargah, the capital of Helmand province, on Tuesday night, 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. In another incident in the same province, coalition airplanes bombed Taliban hideouts in Baramcha area of Garmsir district, killing up to 70 militants, including foreign fighters, Daoud Ahmadi, spokesman for the provincial governor said. 'The dead militants included a number of Chechens, Arabs and Pakistani fighters,' Daoud said, adding that his account was based on 'intelligence information.' He said the joint forces received intelligence information that militants had gathered in the area, which is close to border with Pakistan, and planned to carry out a 'major attack' in the province. Due to remoteness of the area, it was difficult to verify the claimed Taliban's death toll independently. 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 air strikes in that counterattack. 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.