Afghan, US forces kill 60 Taliban
Friday, 27 July 2007
KABUL, July 26 (AFP): Afghan and US-led forces killed more than 50 Taliban in a 12-hour battle in the country's opium- growing heartland, while ten rebels and a policeman died in separate fighting, officials said Thursday.
Coalition warplanes were called in to bomb rebel hideouts in the most intense clash, which broke out late Wednesday in the insurgency-hit southern province of Helmand, a US-led coalition said in a statement.
One coalition soldier suffered a broken hand during the battle, while there were no civilian casualties, it added.
The ultra-Islamic Taliban launched a bloody insurgency after they were toppled from power by US-led forces and Afghan warlords following the 9/11 attacks. Thousands of people have died since then.
The Taliban were not immediately available to comment on the official casualty figures.
Helmand has seen some of the most bitter fighting, particularly in rebel-infested Musa Qala district, near the scene of the latest battle, where the coalition says 160 militants have been killed since Sunday.
The province produces most of Afghanistan's opium, the source of the heroin that reportedly funds much of the Taliban's operations
The fighting erupted on Wednesday night after Taliban militants attacked a joint US-led and Afghan National Army patrol.
The troops called in air support, and coalition planes dropped two bombs on the buildings judged to contain the most insurgents. Secondary blasts suggested there was a large cache of explosives inside, it said.
During the battle insurgents continually reinforced their fighters using a system of wadis, or riverbeds, linking the area of the fighting to nearby Musa Qala, it added.
The coalition said intelligence suggested there was a heavy concentration of Taliban in Musa Qala and that the insurgents would stay "stay and defend the area rather than use their normal hit-and-run tactics."
In neighbouring Kandahar, the province where the Taliban first rose to power in the 1990s, rebels attacked a police post overnight, sparking heavy fighting, provincial police chief Sayed Aqa Saqib told AFP.
In a separate incident at about the same time the insurgents attacked security forces in Kandahar's Khakraiz district, leaving three policemen wounded and causing an unknown number of Taliban casualties, said Saqib.
Meanwhile; A top South Korean envoy headed to Afghanistan on Thursday, scrambling to save 22 of his country's citizens held captive by Taliban kidnappers after the militants killed one hostageHowever, a local police chief said that the negotiations with the captors were difficult because their demands were unclear.
On Wednesday, authorities found the bullet-riddled body of 42-year-old Bae Hyung-kyu in Qarabagh district of Ghazni province, where the South Koreans were abducted July 19. Church officials said he was killed on his birthday.
Bae was found with 10 bullet holes in his head, chest and stomach, said Abdul Rahman, a police officer. Another Afghan police official, who asked not to be identified because of the sensitivity of the situation, said militants told him the hostage was sick and couldn't walk and was therefore shot.
Bae's mother, 68-year-old Lee Chang-suk, broke into tears as she watched the televised government announcement of her son's death.
The kidnappers "will be held accountable for taking the life of a Korean citizen," Baek Jong-chun, South Korea's chief presidential secretary for security affairs, said in a statement before departing for Afghanistan to consult with top Afghan officials on how to secure the release of the remaining captives.
After conflicting reports Wednesday from Western and Afghan officials that possibly eight of the other hostages had been released, South Korean presidential spokesman Chun Ho-sun said the 22 were still believed held but were not suffering from health problems.
Qari Yousef Ahmadi, a purported Taliban spokesman, said all 22 hostages were fine but claimed that Afghan authorities were not allowing South Korean officials to negotiate directly with the militants.
Chun said South Korean President Roh Moo-hyun had spoken with his Afghan counterpart Hamid Karzai, but did not disclose the contents of their discussion.
Ghazni police chief Ali Shah Ahmadzai said that the Afghan negotiators were speaking with the Taliban over the phone, in a hope of securing the hostages release.
"We will not use force against the militants to free the hostages," he said. "The best way in this case is dialogue."
Ahmadzai said he was hopeful about reaching "some sort of deal for the release of six up to eight people" later Thursday, without giving an explanation for his optimism.
Chun said that both governments were cooperating and that an Afghan official had told South Korea earlier Thursday that Kabul intended to negotiate with the Taliban. He said Seoul was aware of the Taliban's current demands but declined to specify them.
Seoul also repeated its call that no rescue mission be launched that could endanger the captives further.
Marajudin Pathan, the governor of Ghazni province, said militants have given a list of eight Taliban prisoners who they want released in exchange for eight Koreans.
An Afghan official involved in the negotiations earlier said a large sum of money would be paid to free eight of the hostages. The official also spoke on condition he not be identified, citing the matter's sensitivity. No other officials would confirm this account.
Foreign governments are suspected to have paid for the release of hostages in Afghanistan in the past, but have either kept it quiet or denied it outright. The Taliban at one point demanded that 23 jailed militants be freed in exchange for the Koreans.
The South Koreans, including 18 women, were kidnapped while on a bus trip through Ghazni province on the Kabul-Kandahar highway, Afghanistan's main thoroughfare.
Coalition warplanes were called in to bomb rebel hideouts in the most intense clash, which broke out late Wednesday in the insurgency-hit southern province of Helmand, a US-led coalition said in a statement.
One coalition soldier suffered a broken hand during the battle, while there were no civilian casualties, it added.
The ultra-Islamic Taliban launched a bloody insurgency after they were toppled from power by US-led forces and Afghan warlords following the 9/11 attacks. Thousands of people have died since then.
The Taliban were not immediately available to comment on the official casualty figures.
Helmand has seen some of the most bitter fighting, particularly in rebel-infested Musa Qala district, near the scene of the latest battle, where the coalition says 160 militants have been killed since Sunday.
The province produces most of Afghanistan's opium, the source of the heroin that reportedly funds much of the Taliban's operations
The fighting erupted on Wednesday night after Taliban militants attacked a joint US-led and Afghan National Army patrol.
The troops called in air support, and coalition planes dropped two bombs on the buildings judged to contain the most insurgents. Secondary blasts suggested there was a large cache of explosives inside, it said.
During the battle insurgents continually reinforced their fighters using a system of wadis, or riverbeds, linking the area of the fighting to nearby Musa Qala, it added.
The coalition said intelligence suggested there was a heavy concentration of Taliban in Musa Qala and that the insurgents would stay "stay and defend the area rather than use their normal hit-and-run tactics."
In neighbouring Kandahar, the province where the Taliban first rose to power in the 1990s, rebels attacked a police post overnight, sparking heavy fighting, provincial police chief Sayed Aqa Saqib told AFP.
In a separate incident at about the same time the insurgents attacked security forces in Kandahar's Khakraiz district, leaving three policemen wounded and causing an unknown number of Taliban casualties, said Saqib.
Meanwhile; A top South Korean envoy headed to Afghanistan on Thursday, scrambling to save 22 of his country's citizens held captive by Taliban kidnappers after the militants killed one hostageHowever, a local police chief said that the negotiations with the captors were difficult because their demands were unclear.
On Wednesday, authorities found the bullet-riddled body of 42-year-old Bae Hyung-kyu in Qarabagh district of Ghazni province, where the South Koreans were abducted July 19. Church officials said he was killed on his birthday.
Bae was found with 10 bullet holes in his head, chest and stomach, said Abdul Rahman, a police officer. Another Afghan police official, who asked not to be identified because of the sensitivity of the situation, said militants told him the hostage was sick and couldn't walk and was therefore shot.
Bae's mother, 68-year-old Lee Chang-suk, broke into tears as she watched the televised government announcement of her son's death.
The kidnappers "will be held accountable for taking the life of a Korean citizen," Baek Jong-chun, South Korea's chief presidential secretary for security affairs, said in a statement before departing for Afghanistan to consult with top Afghan officials on how to secure the release of the remaining captives.
After conflicting reports Wednesday from Western and Afghan officials that possibly eight of the other hostages had been released, South Korean presidential spokesman Chun Ho-sun said the 22 were still believed held but were not suffering from health problems.
Qari Yousef Ahmadi, a purported Taliban spokesman, said all 22 hostages were fine but claimed that Afghan authorities were not allowing South Korean officials to negotiate directly with the militants.
Chun said South Korean President Roh Moo-hyun had spoken with his Afghan counterpart Hamid Karzai, but did not disclose the contents of their discussion.
Ghazni police chief Ali Shah Ahmadzai said that the Afghan negotiators were speaking with the Taliban over the phone, in a hope of securing the hostages release.
"We will not use force against the militants to free the hostages," he said. "The best way in this case is dialogue."
Ahmadzai said he was hopeful about reaching "some sort of deal for the release of six up to eight people" later Thursday, without giving an explanation for his optimism.
Chun said that both governments were cooperating and that an Afghan official had told South Korea earlier Thursday that Kabul intended to negotiate with the Taliban. He said Seoul was aware of the Taliban's current demands but declined to specify them.
Seoul also repeated its call that no rescue mission be launched that could endanger the captives further.
Marajudin Pathan, the governor of Ghazni province, said militants have given a list of eight Taliban prisoners who they want released in exchange for eight Koreans.
An Afghan official involved in the negotiations earlier said a large sum of money would be paid to free eight of the hostages. The official also spoke on condition he not be identified, citing the matter's sensitivity. No other officials would confirm this account.
Foreign governments are suspected to have paid for the release of hostages in Afghanistan in the past, but have either kept it quiet or denied it outright. The Taliban at one point demanded that 23 jailed militants be freed in exchange for the Koreans.
The South Koreans, including 18 women, were kidnapped while on a bus trip through Ghazni province on the Kabul-Kandahar highway, Afghanistan's main thoroughfare.