Insurgent attacks kill nearly 20 more in Afghanistan
Fresh insurgent attacks across Afghanistan claimed nearly 20 more lives, officials said on Tuesday, adding to the death toll of around 300 killed in some of the heaviest fighting since the fall of the Taliban.
Three policemen and 12 Taliban were killed when a convoy carrying a deputy provincial governor and a police chief came under attack in the south while three health workers and their driver died in a roadside bombing near the capital Kabul.
In total more than 20 insurgency-linked attacks were reported in at least 12 provinces over the past two days.
Many were outside the insurgency-hit south and south-east, the traditional hotspots for Taliban-linked violence.
Villagers and human rights groups meanwhile insisted that the civilian death toll from an hours-long coalition air and ground assault in the southern province of Kandahar early Monday was higher than the 16 claimed by Afghan officials.
abc.net.au
Clashes in Southern Afghanistan Kill 3 Policemen, 11 Militants
…In Kabul, a roadside bomb killed four healthcare workers employed by the Afghan Health Development Service. Police and aid officials say a doctor, a male and a female nurse and their driver were killed Monday as they were traveling in Wardak province, about 50 kilometers west of the capital.
Insurgents linked to the ousted Taleban regime have been blamed for a series of attacks on schools as well as health and development workers.
Taleban insurgents intensified their attacks this past week and so did U.S.-led coalition forces who are trying to destroy Taleban hideouts. More than 250 militants, Afghan forces, coalition soldiers and civilians were killed as a result.
Afghan president to summon top US commander over civilian deaths
KABUL -President Hamid Karzai will summon the top commander of US forces in Afghanistan for an explanation of civilian deaths during a coalition air and ground attack in the south, his office said on Tuesday.
The president has also ordered Afghan authorities to investigate the incident, a palace statement said.
Kandahar’s provincial governor has said at least 16 civilians were killed in the operation that started late Sunday in Panjwayi district but villagers say the number of civilian dead is far higher.
Governor Asadullah Khalid said Taleban rebels had hidden in villagers’ homes. The coalition has said up to 80 Taleban may have been killed and it was investigating reports of civilian deaths.
Karzai, who is visiting the United Arab Emirates, was saddened by the incident but also condemned ‘the cowardly act of terrorists hidding in people’s homes,’ the statement said.
He would summon the commander of the coalition forces, Lieutenant General Karl Eikenberry, to explain how the casualties occurred, it said.
The statement noted that Karzai had ‘in past has also asked troops to be careful to avoid civilian casualties during combat operations.’