Fighting in Afghanistan Leaves Over One Hundred Dead
News Brief – May 17, 2006
Heavy fighting has left over one hundred dead in Afghanistan as a resurgent Taliban steps up offensive operation after a lull over winter.
Several hundred Taliban fighters are reported to have clashed with Afghan and Coalition forces in southern Afghanistan.
In the western city of Heart a suicide car bomber rammed into a convoy carrying foreigners killing one. According to a US Embassy spokesman, the dead man was an American working on a counter-narcotics project.
Meanwhile the Taliban launched a large-scale attack on police and government buildings in Helmand province this past Wednesday. According to the deputy governor of the province, Amir Mohammed Akhundzada, the attack involved several hundred Taliban fighters and lasted nearly eight hours.
Akhundzada said nine police officers were killed and five were wounded and the bodies of 14 dead militants were found. Helmand is a former Taliban stronghold.
Also on Wednesday,a Canadian female soldier and about 18 Taliban militants were killed in an attack in Kandahar province, said Maj. Scott Lundy, a Canadian military spokesman.
Last updated 08/09/2006