KABUL, 28 December 2003 — US troops yesterday killed three Taleban militants following a deadly ambush on an Afghan intelligence official in troubled eastern Afghanistan, a military official said. “Khost deputy intelligence director was ambushed and martyred by the Taleban,” Khial Baz Khan, military division commander of Khost province, told AFP.
“The three Taleban who ambushed the deputy director have also been killed by coalition forces. Two of the three seemed to be Arabs,” he said. Khan did not have further details and was on his way to the site of the ambush in Nadirshahkot, 40 kilometers west of the provincial capital Khost.
A Taleban spokesman claimed responsibility for the killing of deputy intelligence director Qudratullah Mandozai in the morning attack and said four militants had been killed by US troops after the ambush.
Meanwhile, Afghanistan’s grand assembly delegates were still wrangling over the draft constitution after President Hamid Karzai insisted on a strong presidency to prevent a slide back into conflict.
A committee of delegates to the Loya Jirga (grand assembly) has been working to reconcile the conflicting views of Karzai and powerful factional leaders on whether Afghanistan should have a presidential or parliamentary system.
