Civilian woman, militants killed in Afghanistan clashes (Roundup)

Jul 8, 2009, 14:29 GMT

Kabul - US-led coalition forces killed an Afghan woman and several militants in an operation in southern Afghanistan, while militants torched 12 construction company vehicles in the northern region, officials said Wednesday.

The civilian woman was killed by 'a ricocheting round' when coalition forces targeted militants in several compounds in Ghazni province on Tuesday night, the US military said in a statement.

Several 'armed enemy combatants' belonging to Haqqani, an associate network of Taliban militants, were killed during the operation, it said, adding that six suspects were detained.

Civilian casualties at the hands of international forces, operating against Taliban and their al-Qaeda allies in Afghanistan, have become a delicate issue.

The new NATO commander in Afghanistan, US General Stanley McChrystal, issued three directives last week, ordering the forces to make the protection of civilians their first priority during the anti-Taliban operations.

In another incident, Taliban militants torched 12 vehicles of a road construction company in the northern province of Kunduz on Tuesday night, Mohammad Omar, the provincial governor, said.

He said no one was hurt in the incident, but two employees of the company were missing, raising fear that they could have been kidnapped by the attackers.

In eastern Nuristan province Taliban were preparing to attack Bargh-e-Matal district for the second time on Wednesday, Jamaluddin Badr, the provincial governor said.

Dozens of militants attacked government buildings in the district on Tuesday, killing eight Afghan police forces and taking hostage another eight, Badr said, adding that the district centre would fall into Taliban hands unless reinforcements from central government were sent.

Afghan defence ministry spokesman, Zahir Azimi said at a press conference on Wednesday that more than 100 Afghan army and police forces were on their way to the district.

The recent incidents and bloodshed came around one week after a joint force of Afghan government troops and US Marines launched a massive operation in the southern province of Helmand, where the militants hold sway in several districts.

Around 4,000 newly-deployed US Marines and more than 600 Afghan soldiers and police are taking part in the operation, dubbed 'Khanjar,' or Strike of the Sword, in Helmand province to drive the militants from several district before August 20 presidential elections.

Azimi said at Wednesday's press conference that so far the joint forces killed 27 militants since the start of the operation on July 2, while only one Afghan was killed and five were wounded.

The joint forces entered Khanshin district, which was completely under control of the Taliban, while sporadic clashes were ongoing in and around two other districts in the province, he said.

Azimi admitted that the Taliban, who controlled Afghanistan between 1996 and 2001, were still in complete control of three more districts in the province.

Helmand, which is the largest opium producing province in the country, is the main hub for Taliban militants.

A British soldier, serving under the command of NATO-led forces, was killed in an explosion in the province on Tuesday

The latest fatality took to 176 the total number of British soldiers killed in Afghanistan since their deployment to the country in late 2001. Seven of the soldiers died in separate incidents in Afghanistan in the past week.