At least 25 insurgents were killed on Wednesday in the southern
Helmand province of Afghanistan, said a spokesman of the NATO-led
International Security Assistance Force (ISAF).
Maj. Luke Knittig told Xinhua that according to reports from
Afghan security department, the militants were killed by Afghan
police and troops in Garmser district at around 8:30 AM local
time.
He said the insurgents attacked a police post in the district
with small arm fire, and the police and troops fought back, killing
at least 25 militants.
Garmser, located in eastern Helmand, has been a hotbed of
Taliban and other militants. The Taliban occupied the district
center briefly several times in the past months.
One civilian was injured in a suicide car bombing apparently
targeting ISAF troops in Dorahi area of the neighboring Kandahar
province.
Also on Wednesday, a leader of a terrorist cell was captured in
the eastern Kunar province of Afghanistan by Afghan and the US-led
coalition forces on Wednesday, said a coalition statement.
The terrorist, who led a cell carrying out Improvised Explosive
Device (IED) attacks against Afghan and coalition troops, was
arrested in south of Asadabad, the provincial capital.
"The known IED cell member manufactured several IEDs and was
responsible for placing devices in various locations in the Pech
Valley region," the statement said.
Credible and strong intelligence indicated the terrorist was
planning to attack the troops in the immediate future, it
added.
A coalition spokesman John Paradis said, "This is a positive
development in that a key terrorist facilitator has been detained,
his actions thwarted and his future plans disrupted."
No casualties were reported in the capturing operation.
Due to rising Taliban-linked insurgence this year, Afghanistan
has plunged into the worst spate of violence since the Taliban
regime was toppled in late 2001.
Over 2,400 persons, mostly Taliban rebels, have been killed in
this Central Asian country in the past nine months.
(Xinhua News Agency September 28, 2006)
