Kabul - US-led coalition forces killed an Afghan woman and
several militants in an operation in southern Afghanistan, while
militants torched 12 construction company vehicles in the northern
region, officials said Wednesday.
The civilian woman was killed by 'a ricocheting round' when
coalition forces targeted militants in several compounds in Ghazni
province on Tuesday night, the US military said in a statement.
Several 'armed enemy combatants' belonging to Haqqani, an
associate network of Taliban militants, were killed during the
operation, it said, adding that six suspects were detained.
Civilian casualties at the hands of international forces,
operating against Taliban and their al-Qaeda allies in Afghanistan,
have become a delicate issue.
The new NATO commander in Afghanistan, US General Stanley
McChrystal, issued three directives last week, ordering the forces to
make the protection of civilians their first priority during the
anti-Taliban operations.
In another incident, Taliban militants torched 12 vehicles of a
road construction company in the northern province of Kunduz on
Tuesday night, Mohammad Omar, the provincial governor, said.
He said no one was hurt in the incident, but two employees of the
company were missing, raising fear that they could have been
kidnapped by the attackers.
The recent incidents and bloodshed came around one week after a
joint force of Afghan government troops and US Marines launched a
massive operation in the southern province of Helmand, where the
militants hold sway in several districts.
Around 4,000 newly deployed US Marines and more than 500 Afghan
soldiers are taking part in the operation, dubbed 'Khanjar,' or
Strike of the Sword, in Helmand province to drive the militants from
several district before August 20 presidential elections.
Helmand, which is the largest opium producing province in the
country, is the main hub for Taliban militants.
A British soldier, serving under the command of NATO-led forces,
was killed in an explosion in the province on Tuesday
The latest fatality took to 176 the total number of British
soldiers killed in Afghanistan since their deployment to the country
in late 2001. Seven of the soldiers died in separate incidents in
Afghanistan in the past week.
USA
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