Ambush kills 10 Afghan troops

24 Oct 2012, 12:16 am   -   Source: AAP

Ten members of the Afghan security forces have been killed in a Taliban ambush.

Taliban insurgents have killed 10 members of the Afghan security forces in an ambush in western Herat province, police and government officials say.

Muhiudin Noori, a spokesman for the provincial governor, said soldiers and police were searching for a group of insurgents who had earlier set up a roadblock where they were stopping and seizing passing vehicles.

In the ensuing firefight, five policemen including the district commander and five soldiers died, Noori said. There were no insurgent casualties, but police later arrested 25 suspects found in the area, he said.

Also on Tuesday, an American service member was killed in an insurgent attack in the east, the US military said in a statement. It did not provide further details about the attack. The latest death makes at least 12 American service members killed so far this month and 265 killed so far this year.

The Herat ambush was the bloodiest single incident for Afghan security forces this year in western Afghanistan - an area where the insurgents have been less active than in their strongholds in the east and west of the country.

In recent months, Taliban guerrillas have been switching tactics and increasingly targeting Afghan security forces as the international coalition continues its drawdown toward a planned withdrawal of the majority of combat troops in 2014.

Meanwhile, President Hamid Karzai condemned "in the strongest possible terms" a NATO raid on Sunday in Logar province in which he said four children were killed.

A presidential statement said coalition troops carried out the operation in Baraki Barak district in an effort to apprehend two armed militants. But this resulted in the deaths of the four children who were tending to their animals in the same area, it said.

Din Mohammad Darwesh, spokesman for the provincial governor, said the victims were between 10 and 13 years old.

On Sunday, NATO said it had conducted a precision airstrike in Baraki Barak district which killed three insurgents. "No other individuals were reported nearby at the time of the strike," a coalition statement said.

In recent months, Karzai has criticised the international military coalition for killing civilians, for not going after terrorist safe havens in neighbouring Pakistan, and for not providing the Afghan armed forces with all the weapons they need.

The criticisms drew an angry response from US Defence Secretary Leon Panetta, who earlier this month said the Afghan leader should occasionally say thank you to allied forces who are fighting and dying there, rather than criticising them.

  • Follow us: 
  • Follow us on Facebook
  • Follow us on Twitter
  • Follow us on Youtube