Taliban ambush kills 10 Afghan security personnel, troops kill 9 rebels

The Taliban militants fighting Afghan government had ambushed and killed 10 Afghan security members in the western Herat province, spokesman for provincial administration, Mahiudin Nuri said Wednesday. "Taliban militants intercepted a convoy of books in Oba district on Monday evening. Afghan security forces went there to rescue but the Taliban ambushed and killed 10 security members including five policemen and five army soldiers," Nuri told Xinhua. The police chiefs of Oba district Chasht district are also among those killed in the deadly attack, he said. Eight more security personnel including six police constables and two army soldiers had sustained injuries in the sudden attack, Nuri said. In the bloody clash which lasted for a while, four Taliban militants including Mullah Shuaib, the shadowy governor of Taliban in Oba district, were also killed, Nuri added. In the meantime, the Afghan and NATO-led forces in an overnight attack raided Taliban hideouts in Shahrak district of Ghor province 360 km west of Afghan capital Kabul, leaving nine militants dead and wounding 25 others, a provincial official said. "According to initial reports by our security forces, nine people were killed and 25 others injured during a night raid operation against Taliban militants conducted by Afghan Special Forces supporting by the coalition troops in Sharhrak district overnight," the spokesman for provincial government, Abdul Hai Khatibi, told Xinhua. Some locals claim that many of the victims are non-combatants including women and children. However, the claim was rejected by Khatibi as groundless. Khatibi said that the authority has begun investigating the allegation to determine if there were any civilians among the casualties. Meanwhile, a spokesman for the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) told Xinhua "ISAF can confirm an incident early this morning in Shahrak district, Ghor province in which an Afghan and coalition security force killed several insurgents during an operation to detain a Taliban leader". The spokesman also said that, "ISAF is aware of reports of possible civilian casualties during the operation. ISAF takes all allegations of civilian casualties seriously, and is assessing the facts surrounding this incident. We will release more information as appropriate". Harming civilians by NATO-led troops during operations against Taliban militants is a source of anxiety for Afghan government. President Hamid Karzai in a statement released by his office on Tuesday strongly condemned the killing of four children allegedly by NATO-led troops during operations against Taliban in Logar province 60 km south of capital city Kabul. In the statement, the president noted, "Despite repeated pledges by NATO to avoid civilian casualties, innocent lives including children are still being lost in fighting terrorism whose havens and sanctuaries remain safe outside Afghanistan's borders".