At least four soldiers killed in Afghanistan clashes

dpa German Press Agency
Published: Tuesday October 3, 2006

Kabul- At least four soldiers in forces belonging to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, the United States and Afghanistan were reported killed Tuesday fighting insurgents in separate incidents in Afghanistan. One NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) soldier was killed, another presumed dead and eight others injured in southern province of Kandahar, NATO reported.

According to NATO, the soldiers came under sustained mortar and small arms fire at in the afternoon during a patrol operation in Zhari district around 20 kilometres west of Kandahar province.

The statement did not disclose the nationality of the soldiers. Some 2,300 Canadian soldiers form the largest part of NATO-led ISAF forces in the volatile southern province Kandahar.

The statement could said there were no sign of rebel casualties as yet.

Earlier, two US and one Afghan soldier were killed and three others injured overnight in fighting with insurgents in north-eastern Afghanistan, the coalition forces announced on Tuesday.

A statement issued by the forces at Bagram Airfield outside Kabul said the soldiers were operating as part of a combat patrol in Pech district of Kunar province Monday evening when they made contact with enemy forces.

"The unit engaged the insurgents with small arms and artillery fire," the statement said.

The injured were medically evacuated to a US treatment facility in Asadabad, where they remained in stable condition.

In a separate attack, a suicide bomber attacked NATO forces outside Kandahar city in southern Afghanistan on Tuesday, but its impact was not immediately known, the Afghan Islamic Press (AIP) reported.

Eyewitnesses at the site told the Pakistan-based agency as the explosion was "severe" but said the scene could not be surveyed as NATO forces immediately cordoned off the area.

It was the second suicide attack on NATO forces at the site about five kilometres west of Kanadahar on the highway to Herat city.

In the eastern province of Paktika, Afghan policemen said they killed more than 10 insurgents in Gomal district overnight to avenge an attack on a police check post that killed three policemen, the AIP reported, quoting the provincial police chief, Brigadier Abdul Basir Nooristani.

More than 7,000 Afghan and US troops are operating in eastern Afghanistan as part of Operation Mountain Fury.

AIP also reported that a tribal leader, Zabit Zaher, was arrested in Jalalalabad, capital of eastern Ningarhar province, on Monday for blaming the bad security situation in Khogiani district on the presence of US-led coalition forces.

His nephew Tahir Omar, who is a member of the Ningarhar Council, told the news agency that Zaher demanded in an official meeting that foreign troops leave the district.

© 2006 dpa German Press Agency