Clash, attacks leave 14 Afghan civilians, 17 militants dead (Extra)

Aug 23, 2008, 15:10 GMT

Kabul - Fourteen civilians and 17 Taliban militants were killed in a series of roadside attacks and a clash between joint Afghan-NATO forces and Taliban militants in Afghanistan, officials said Saturday.

Ten civilians including two children and a woman were killed in a roadside bomb attack in Shah Walikot district of southern Kandahar province on Saturday morning, Matiullah Khan, provincial police chief said.

He said that four other civilians were wounded when their mini-bus struck the mine.

Meanwhile, four other civilians were killed and seven others were wounded in a roadside bomb blast in Tani district of south-eastern province of Khost on Saturday, Wali Jangikhail, district police chief of Tani said.

Both officials blamed the attacks on militants with the former ruling Taliban, who have been waging a bloody insurgency after being ousted in a late 2001 US invasion.

In another incident in southern Helmand province, Afghan and NATO forces killed 17 Taliban militants in an operation in Nad Ali district of the province, said Mohammad Hussain Andiwal, provincial police chief.

He said two Afghan soldiers were wounded in the operation that started on Friday and continued into Saturday.

More than 3,000 people - mostly insurgents but including more than 1,000 civilians - have been killed so far this year, according to figures provided by Afghan and international military sources.