Daily Security Brief: November 17, 2011

BAGHLAN: Two people were killed during a clash between militant groups in the Nahrin district of northern Baghlan province, officials said on Thursday.

The gunbattle resulted from personal enmity, Col. Noor Gul, the district police chief, told Pajhwok Afghan News. He said the security personnel had been sent to the area to bring the situation under control.

Elsewhere in the country, two Taliban fighters were detained during an operation by Afghan and international soldiers in Pul-i-Alam, the capital of central Logar province.

Brig. Gen. Ghulam Sakhi Rogh Lawanai, the provincial police chief, said the operation was conducted on Wednesday night in the Patkhwab-i-Shana area on the outskirts of Pul-i-Alam City.

–Sherzai & Azizi

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JAWZJAN: A woman was among three people killed and four others sustained injuries in two separate traffic accidents in northern Jawzjan province on Thursday, an official said.

The first accident happened when two trucks collided head-on in the Pul-i-Naw area of Aqcha district, police chief Brig. Gen. Abdul Aziz Ghairat told Pajhwok Afghan News.

The drivers of both trucks were killed instantly, while two others injured in the collision were shifted to a hospital.

The dead included an Iranian citizen, whose body had been handed over to the Iranian consulate, the police chief. 

The second accident occurred in Khwaja Deh Koh district when a car crashed into a truck. According to Ghairat, a woman was killed and two others occupants of the car injured.

–Tamkin

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KABUL: Twenty-seven insurgents were killed and six others detained during joint operations over the past 24 hours in different provinces, the Ministry of Interior (MoI) said on Thursday.

The operations were conducted by Afghan and International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) personnel in Kabul, Kunar, Nangarhar, Kapisa, Kunduz and Kandahar provinces, a statement from the ministry said.

Three AK-47 assault rifles, eight pistols with 310 bullets, two Russian-type guns, a rocket launcher, 50 kilograms of drugs, one anti-vehicle mine, 12 mortar shells and five artillery shells were seized.

In northern Baghlan province, the statement said, a kidnapper was detained by police in the provincial capital late on Wednesday.

–Khwaja Basir Ahmad

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KABUL: Three International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) soldiers died in insurgents attacks in Afghanistan on Thursday, the alliance said.

Two of the troops died in a roadside bombing in southern Afghanistan, while a third was killed in an insurgent assault in the east, the NATO-led force said in a brief statement.

In line with its policy, ISAF neither disclosed the soldiers’ nationalities nor the exact locations. Mostly, US, British and Canadian servicemembers are fighting the Taliban in the south and east.

With the latest fatalities, the number of international servicemembers killed in Afghanistan so far during the current year has gone up to 528, compared to 711 in 2010 — the deadliest year for foreign soldiers.

–Pajhwok Report

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NANGARHAR: The numbers of militants killed during a joint operation by International Security and Assistance Force (ISAF) and Afghan soldiers in eastern Nangarhar province has reached 34, officials said on Thursday.

The ongoing operation was launched by ISAF, Afghan National Army (ANA) and border police on Wednesday evening in the Sra Lalma area of Nazyan district, the administrative head of the town, Mamoor Isa, told Pajhwok Afghan News.

Up to 27 fighters were killed as a result of an ISAF airstrike on Wednesday and seven other insurgents died in the subsequent ground offensive, he said.

A border police official, Col. Ayub Husseinkhel, said that search operations were ongoing in Nakhtar, Clinic and Dwakhola Nazyan areas of the district, allowing border police to travel across the district without any fear.

A tribal elder, Malik Osman, said the Taliban still controlled many parts of the district, where Lashkar-i-Islam and Mangal Bagh loyalists had sneaked from the Khyber tribal region of Pakistan.

A Taliban spokesman, Zabihullah Mujahid, acknowledged four fighters were killed and seven others injured. He claimed the militants had destroyed two vehicles of Afghan soldiers, inflicting casualties on 18 soldiers.

–Abdul Mueed Hashmi

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NANGARHAR: Two people were killed when suspected insurgents opened fire at their vehicle in Chaparhar district of eastern Nangarhar province on Thursday, an official said.

Another three people were injured in the gun attack that took place in Threli area, the governor’s spokesman, Ahmad Zia Abdulzai, told Pajhwok Afghan News.

The vehicle carried security personnel and common men, he said, adding that the dead included a security official and a civilian.

Resident Abdul Jabbar confirmed two people had been killed and a third injured in the attack.

A Taliban spokesman, Zabihullah Mujahid, claimed three National Directorate of Security (NDS) officials were killed in the assault carried out by the rebels.

—Abdul Mueed Hashmi

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URUZGAN: Two insurgents, including a commander, were killed during a clash with police in central Uruzgan province, an official said on Thursday.

The hour-long engagement erupted on Wednesday night in the Mehrabad area of Tirinkot, the provincial capital, a spokesman for the police headquarters told Pajhwok Afghan News.

Farid Ayel said a key Taliban commander, Qari Hayatullah, was killed along with an associate, while police suffered no casualties in the firefight.

A Kalashnikov, PK machine gun bullets, six remote-control devices, a bomb and some ammunition were recovered, Nayel added. There has been no word yet from the Taliban. 

–Pajhwok Report

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