thedrifter
04-05-03, 02:48 PM
Ex-Taliban Provincial Governor Held in Afghanistan
Sat Apr 5,11:15 AM ET
KABUL (Reuters) - Afghan officials said on Saturday they had killed more than 50 Taliban rebels in fighting in the northwest of the country, and captured a former provincial governor under the ousted fundamentalist regime.
Among those captured this week were Mullah Badar, former governor of the northwestern province of Badghis, as well as Taliban military commander Juma Khan, officials said.
Ghulam Mohammad Masoon, spokesman for the governor of Herat province, said Khan had led a group of around 400 Taliban rebels in an attack against government forces in Badghis province.
"We reacted on time and launched a counter offensive," Masoon told Reuters by phone from Herat. "Some of Khan's men were arrested while the rest managed to flee to the mountains."
Masoon said more than 50 Taliban rebels had been killed, while at least six government soldiers had also died in two days of fighting in Ghormach and Marghab districts.
Pakistan-based Afghan Islamic Press (AIP) reported that an explosion rocked a military headquarters in eastern city of Jalalabad on Saturday, wounding six people including a deputy military commander, Syed Rehman.
AIP said officials confirmed the blast but could not tell whether it was caused by a land mine or if it was an attack.
An Afghan official told Reuters that two explosions also happened on Friday in the southern town of Spin Boldak near the Pakistan border at a shop and a public baths, but no one was hurt.
Remnants of the Taliban militia have stepped up attacks in many parts of Afghanistan (news - web sites) since the start of the U.S. war on Iraq (news - web sites). Spring is also the traditional Afghan fighting season.
Thousands of U.S. and allied troops remain in Afghanistan searching for Taliban remnants and their al Qaeda allies, blamed for the September 11, 2001 attacks on the United States.
Several leading Taliban officials have been captured in the last two weeks in separate operations in the eastern province of Ghazni and in southern Kandahar province.
They include Mullah Abdul Razaaq, a former Taliban commerce minister, Mawlavi Shahid Khel, deputy education minister and Sattar Sadozai, a key intelligence official during Taliban rule.
On Thursday, Afghan Interior Minister Ali Ahmad Jalali said remnants of the Taliban and their leaders were organizing their activities from neighboring Pakistan.
Pakistan was a main supporter of the Taliban but abandoned them to throw its weight behind the U.S.-led war on terror after September 2001.
Sempers,
Roger
Sat Apr 5,11:15 AM ET
KABUL (Reuters) - Afghan officials said on Saturday they had killed more than 50 Taliban rebels in fighting in the northwest of the country, and captured a former provincial governor under the ousted fundamentalist regime.
Among those captured this week were Mullah Badar, former governor of the northwestern province of Badghis, as well as Taliban military commander Juma Khan, officials said.
Ghulam Mohammad Masoon, spokesman for the governor of Herat province, said Khan had led a group of around 400 Taliban rebels in an attack against government forces in Badghis province.
"We reacted on time and launched a counter offensive," Masoon told Reuters by phone from Herat. "Some of Khan's men were arrested while the rest managed to flee to the mountains."
Masoon said more than 50 Taliban rebels had been killed, while at least six government soldiers had also died in two days of fighting in Ghormach and Marghab districts.
Pakistan-based Afghan Islamic Press (AIP) reported that an explosion rocked a military headquarters in eastern city of Jalalabad on Saturday, wounding six people including a deputy military commander, Syed Rehman.
AIP said officials confirmed the blast but could not tell whether it was caused by a land mine or if it was an attack.
An Afghan official told Reuters that two explosions also happened on Friday in the southern town of Spin Boldak near the Pakistan border at a shop and a public baths, but no one was hurt.
Remnants of the Taliban militia have stepped up attacks in many parts of Afghanistan (news - web sites) since the start of the U.S. war on Iraq (news - web sites). Spring is also the traditional Afghan fighting season.
Thousands of U.S. and allied troops remain in Afghanistan searching for Taliban remnants and their al Qaeda allies, blamed for the September 11, 2001 attacks on the United States.
Several leading Taliban officials have been captured in the last two weeks in separate operations in the eastern province of Ghazni and in southern Kandahar province.
They include Mullah Abdul Razaaq, a former Taliban commerce minister, Mawlavi Shahid Khel, deputy education minister and Sattar Sadozai, a key intelligence official during Taliban rule.
On Thursday, Afghan Interior Minister Ali Ahmad Jalali said remnants of the Taliban and their leaders were organizing their activities from neighboring Pakistan.
Pakistan was a main supporter of the Taliban but abandoned them to throw its weight behind the U.S.-led war on terror after September 2001.
Sempers,
Roger