Two policemen, Taliban shadow governor killed in Afghanistan

Dec 31, 2010, 11:48 GMT

Kunduz, Afghanistan - Two policemen and a Taliban shadow governor were killed in northern Afghanistan, officials said Friday.

'Two policemen were killed and two others injured when Afghan forces raided an important Taliban centre,' Faiz Mohammad Tawhidi, spokesman for the provincial governor, told the German Press Agency dpa.

The raid was conducted by the police on Thursday night in Khoja Bahawodin district in the northern province of Takhar. 'Six suspected insurgents were detained in the operation,' he said.

Seperately, a Taliban commander and his bodyguard were killed during an overnight operation by Afghan and NATO forces in the northern province of Kunduz, police said on Friday.

Provincial police chief Abdul Rahman Sayedkhili said the combined forces raided a house in Chahar Darah district and killed Mullah Bahader, the Taliban shadow governor of Kunduz province, along with his bodyguard.

He also said four suspected militants were detained during the operation. The Chahar Darah district Governor Abdul Wahid Omerkhil denied the police chief's statement, saying all those 'who were detained were plain villagers and not insurgents.'

Mullah Bahader is the second Taliban shadow governor to be killed by Afghan and international troops in 2010.

NATO confirmed in a statement that an operation targeting 'an area leader working closely with Taliban shadow governors' in planning attacks against Afghan and coalition forces took place in Chahar Darah district on Thursday night.

The military alliance said they killed one armed insurgent but did not confirm his identity.

Taliban insurgents have been operating 'shadow' administrations in all 34 provinces of Afghanistan since the start of the US-led war in 2001 that ousted the Taliban government from Kabul.

Violence has escalated in the relatively peaceful northern region this year as US forces have put pressure on the militants in the south.

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