KABUL, 30 August 2003 — Afghan forces clashed with Taleban fighters in the southern province of Zabul for a fifth consecutive day yesterday after reports of the deaths of another 30 militants, a local official said.
The US military also said a special forces soldier died of wounds sustained in an accident during overnight operations in Dai Chopan district of Zabul province, where hundreds of Taleban are concentrated. Another soldier was wounded on Thursday as special operations troops continued to support Afghan militia hunting the largest group of militants since the collapse of Taleban late in 2001.
“In Chinaran the fighting is ongoing,” Noor Ahmad Hamraz, secretary to the governor of Zabul, said by satellite telephone. “Overnight there was fighting until 6 a.m. (0130 GMT). We received reports that 30 Taleban were killed by that time.”
Afghan commanders say well over 100 Taleban have been killed in the clashes, although the US military, which has contributed dozens of special forces soldiers and pounded Taleban positions from the air, has confirmed only 14 enemy losses. An estimated 450 Afghan soldiers and their US allies are hunting up to 1,000 Taleban who were active in central Uruzgan province before fleeing southeast into Zabul.
In Zabul, the presence of hundreds of Taleban fighters and sympathisers has raised concern that security is deteriorating across parts of southern Afghanistan, undermining the authority of President Hamid Karzai. About 200 km south of Dai Chopan, at least three Afghan government troops were killed and a commander was kidnapped when suspected Taleban attacked checkpoints close to the Pakistan border.
The deputy police chief of Spin Boldak district, Mullah Abdul Manan, told Reuters Taleban fighters had attacked posts to the east and southeast of Spin Boldak town on Thursday night. All are within a few kilometres of the Pakistani border.
Mana said three Afghan soldiers had been killed and one commander, Haji Wali Shah, kidnapped. Four Taleban were wounded, but escaped toward Pakistan. Afghanistan says most of the Taleban are crossing from Pakistan to carry out attacks, and blames Pakistan for not doing enough to stop them.
