Daily Security Brief: January 21, 2012

BAGHLAN: Three people were killed and five others wounded in a traffic accident in northern Baghlan province, officials said on Saturday.

The accident occurred on the Pul-i-Khumri-Doshi highway in the Pablin area of Doshi district late on Friday, the traffic department chief said.

Syed Alim told Pajhwok Afghan News a civilian car on its way to the Kelagi area crashed into a tanker, killing three occupants of the car and injuring five others. He blamed the tanker’s driver for overspeed.

Dr. Gul Mohammad, the Pul-i-Khumri hospital head, confirmed receiving three dead bodies and five injured people, saying the wounded are in stable condition.

–Habibullah Sherzai

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GHAZNI: A moneychanger, kidnapped three days ago by unknown gunmen, was released as a result of efforts by residents of southern Ghazni province, officials said on Saturday.

Darya Khan was found by locals during a search in a desert of Qara Bagh district on Friday night, the district council chief, Abdul Halim Janan, told Pajhwok Afghan News.

He said Khan was in bad condition and unable to walk when found, apparently kept in a cold room and denied food during three days of captivity.

Crime branch chief at the provincial police headquarters, Maj. Allah Nazar Zia, confirmed the moneychanger’s release, but he had no information if any ransom had been paid.

“Khan is in now stable condition and local residents have identified his three kidnappers,” said Mohammad Zalmai Bawar, a relative. The kidnappers had sought id=”mce_marker”00,000 (4900000afs) as ransom on the first days of his abduction.

–Mirwais Himmat

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HELMAND: Four Taliban militants were killed and six others arrested during a clash with police in the Musa Kala district of western Helmand province on Saturday, an official said.

The gunbattle happened in the Landai area of the district, where the insurgents attacked police, the governor’s spokesman, Daud Ahmadi, told Pajhwok Afghan News.

The firefight lasted two-hours, with the bodies of militants and their weapons lying at the scene. He said police and civilians suffered no casualties in the clash. There has been no word so far from Taliban about the incident.

–‌Zainullah Stanikzai

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KABUL: The Ministry of Defence said on Saturday it had detained the killer of French troops in the central province of Kapisa. The assailant was wearing an Afghan National Army (ANA) uniform.

Four French soldiers were killed and 17 others wounded on Friday when the man in the ANA uniform opened fire them in the Tagab district of Kapisa province.

While condemning the accident, the ministry said in a statement a delegation had been named to probe the incident.

The International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) in Kabul also confirmed the arrest of the attacker, without disclosing his identity.

Hours after the incident, French President Nicolas Sarkozy announced the suspension of all training and joint operations in Afghanistan.

The TF1 television channel quoted Sarkozy as telling diplomats in Paris: “The French Army is standing next to its allies, but we cannot accept that even one of our soldiers be killed or wounded by our allies.”

Meanwhile, President Karzai offered his deep condolences to his French counterpart and the families of the victims. He praised the sacrifices of French soldiers.

—Khwaja Basir Ahmad

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KAPISA: One civilian was killed and nine others injured during a gunbattle between militants and Afghan National Army troops in the Alasai district of central Kapisa province on Saturday, an official said.

The rebels opened fire on the troops from a garden, the district police chief, Col. Mir Zaman Mangarai, told Pajhwok Afghan News. Acting in self-defence, the soldiers returned fire, he said.

One civilian was killed and nine others were wounded when a rocket hit their house in the district centre, he said, adding he had no information about who had fired the shell.

However, residents accused the Taliban of firing the rocket. “A Taliban-fired rocket slammed into the town,” a resident said on condition of anonymity. The injured were shifted to a health facility.

A Taliban spokesman, Zabihullah Mujahid, confirmed the fighters had attacked an ANA patrol, blaming civilian casualties on a rocket fired from a military base in the area.

—Bakhtar Safi

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