Print

Mail

wiki links

Explosion kills four coalition soldiers

An improvised explosive device (IED) killed four US-led coalition soldiers yesterday in the southern Afghan province of Kandahar, the scene of a large anti-Taliban offensive and an insurgent jail break.

Two coalition soldiers were also wounded in the blast, a US military statement said, without giving further details.

The Taliban have upped pressure on Kandahar in the past two weeks, freeing at least 300 of their comrades in the jail break, then occupying areas outside the town, forcing Afghan and foreign troops to launch a large offensive to clear them out.

In another incident, an IED killed a Polish soldier from the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) and wounded four more yesterday in the southeastern province of Paktika, the Polish news agency said.

The Taliban have vowed to step up their campaign of suicide and roadside bombings this year to weaken the pro-Western Afghan government and wear down Western support for the continued presence of international troops inside the country.

While Afghan and international forces are able to fight off any conventional Taliban attack, combating suicide and roadside improvised explosive devices is proving more of a challenge as it depends on good policing and intelligence work.

In addition to about 50,000 ISAF troops, there are some 14,000 mainly US soldiers who are part of the US-led coalition in Afghanistan, mainly involved in anti-terrorism operations and training Afghan security forces.

Coalition forces also launched airstrikes targeting a Taliban commander and a group of militants in eastern Khost Province, bordering Pakistan.

Coalition troops also killed several militants and detained three more in the northeastern province of Kapisa, the US military said yesterday.

One coalition soldier was also killed and two wounded in the western Afghan province of Farah on Friday.

Afghan security forces, backed by coalition troops, killed several militants they had observed trying to plant a roadside bomb in the southern province of Helmand on Thursday, US military said yesterday.

In other news, Moscow and Washington have agreed on a deal in principle over the supply of Russian weaponry to the Afghan army in its fight against the Taliban insurgency, senior diplomats said in a statement on Friday.

The deal was signed in the Russian capital as part of the US-Russia Working Group on Counterterrorism (CTWG), although no immediate figures were put on any Russian supplies.

“An agreement in principle to provide Russian military material to the Afghanistan National Army” was concluded during a two-day meeting of the CTWG, the communique said.

Twin NATO and US operations are currently active in Afghanistan following the US-led invasion of 2001. Russia, as part of the then Soviet Union, fought an 11-year war in Afghanistan from 1978 to 1989.

“We in the past have already provided military equipment to Afghanistan and we feel there is now a demand by the Afghan population and the ability of Afghanistan to take its security in its own hands,” Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Kislyak told reporters.

Kislyak said it was “possible” that Russia could increase the delivery of arms to Afghanistan.

“It is possible but I would not be eager to put a number on it,” he said.
This story has been viewed 945 times.