Afghan forces put down Taliban attack killing 18 militants in south
15/10/2008 17:38
Afghan National Army (ANA) and police force yesterday evening put down
Taliban militants' another attack on Lashkar Gha, capital of Helmand province in
southern Afghanistan, killing at least 18 militants, Assadullah Shirzad, the
provincial police chief told Xinhua today.
"It occurred at around 9 p.m.
local time (1630 GMT) last night when two groups of Taliban militants launched
attacks separately on the southern part and northern part of Lashkar Gha city,"
Shirzad said.
The combined forces of ANA and police forces engaged Taliban
rebels and suppressed the assaults with the help of local citizens, killing 18
rebels and wounding six more, the police chief said.
"Three policemen were
also injured in the four hours' fire fight," he added.
Meantime, Qari Yusuf
Ahmadi, the purported Taliban spokesman claimed responsibility for the attack
saying the outfits have taken over three police posts in Lashkar Gha after the
clash.
Taliban militants, who recently vowed to intensified their assaults
against interests of Afghan government and international troops before the
coming winter, had launched a three-pronged attack on Lashkar Gha city last
Sunday while Afghan troops with the support of NATO air power pounded their
positions left over 100 militants dead.
Spiraling conflicts and
Taliban-linked insurgency have left more than 4,500 people mostly insurgents so
far this year in Afghanistan as Kai Eide, top UN representative for Afghanistan,
warned yesterday that Taliban insurgents in the country are likely to step up
attacks in coming weeks, before the onset of winter.
Xinhua
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