Afghan forces kill 12 Taliban in clinic siege
Friday, 28 August 2009
KABUL, Aug 27 (AFP): A fierce gunfight backed by US helicopter fire paralysed a district in eastern Afghanistan after Taliban forced their way into a clinic seeking treatment for their leader, officials and NATO said Thursday.
An American soldier was killed in the violence, which broke out Wednesday as Afghan forces were trying to capture a suspected Taliban commander, the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) under NATO said in a statement.
Twelve Taliban were killed in the fighting that raged for about six hours, and six others were captured, said Hamidullah Zhwak, the provincial spokesman, adding a clinic guard was also wounded.
Acting on a tip-off, Afghan security forces surrounded the clinic at around midday in the small Sar Hawza district of Paktika province, which borders Pakistan and is a hotbed of Taliban violence.
An American soldier was killed in the violence, which broke out Wednesday as Afghan forces were trying to capture a suspected Taliban commander, the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) under NATO said in a statement.
Twelve Taliban were killed in the fighting that raged for about six hours, and six others were captured, said Hamidullah Zhwak, the provincial spokesman, adding a clinic guard was also wounded.
Acting on a tip-off, Afghan security forces surrounded the clinic at around midday in the small Sar Hawza district of Paktika province, which borders Pakistan and is a hotbed of Taliban violence.