|
 |
| An Afghan policeman searches a man at a
checkpoint in the city of Kandahar, Afghanistan May 19, 2006. More than
200 people have been killed in bloody clashes as Afghan forces and the
U.S.-led Coalition forces conducted a series of continuous offensive
operations across southern Afghanistan provinces in the past three days.
(Xinhua/Reuters) | KABUL, May 19 (Xinhua) -- More
than 200 people have been killed in bloody clashes as Afghan forces and the
U.S.-led Coalition forces conducted a series of continuous offensive operations
across southern Afghanistan provinces in the past three days, said the
authorities on Friday.
In a joint operation with the Coalition forces,
Afghan troops have killed more than 100 militants in Taliban's former stronghold
of Kandahar province since Wednesday, provincial governor Asadullah Khalid told
reporters Friday evening.
A female Canadian solider, one Afghan soldier, seven
policemen and three civilians lost their lives while 17 others were injured
during the heavy battles in Panjwai district, said the governor.
Several Taliban military commanders were shot dead or
captured in the battlefield, Khalid added.
Three of six Taliban associated compounds were
possibly destroyed by air strikes.
In the neighboring Helmand province, 66 insurgents,
16 Afghan policemen and one civilian have been killed in fatal conflicts.
On Wednesday, Afghan police and the Coalition forces
killed 60 insurgents and captured 20 others during a battle in the village of
Musa Qalah.
Hundreds of militants terrorized the town of Musa
Qalah overnight by setting fires and attacking government agencies, according to
the Coalition forces. Sixteen Afghan policemen were killed and 20 others wounded
in the conflict.
In a raid on Friday, Afghan police changed fire with
militants in Kagaki district, leaving six suspected Taliban militants and one
civilian killed.
In a separate operation in the Bahrami district of
Ghazni province, Afghan police and the Coalition forces engaged approximately 30
extremists with small arms and mortar fire in the village of Godale Shamshir on
Thursday, leaving one police and one militant dead.
Also in Ghazni, five Afghan policemen and eight
Taliban militants were killed in two separate incidents, according to Afghan
officials.
Taliban militants have claimed responsibility for a
spring offensive in southern Afghanistan. But Afghan and Coalition forces have
clearly demonstrated they have seized and maintained the initiative, and are
capable of conducting simultaneous combat operations throughout the country
where ever the enemy attempts to move, said Coalition officials.
Taliban-linked insurgency has claimed the lives of some 500 people including 26 Americans since the beginning of 2006. Enditem
| 
Breaking
News 
