KABUL, 22 September 2007 — Heavy battles punctuated by a barrage of airstrikes killed 75 suspected Taleban and at least six civilians in southern Afghanistan, while a suicide car bomb in the capital killed two people, including a French soldier, officials said.
The bomb attack in western Kabul was directed against a convoy of French troops traveling in armored vehicles. It killed one soldier and an Afghan civilian and wounded many other Afghans, hospital and NATO officials said. The blast blew the windows out of a civilian bus and set at least one vehicle on fire.
French President Nicolas Sarkozy condemned the attack as “cowardly and odious.”
“More than ever, I remain determined to pursue the fight against terrorism,” he said.
Heavy fighting in the south, meanwhile, killed about 75 Taleban militants over the last 48 hours, the US-led coalition said. Six civilians were also killed after Taleban fighters sought shelter in their homes, which were then targeted by airstrikes, an Afghan official said.
The fighting comes on the heels of a new NATO operation that began Wednesday in southern Helmand province, where the US Central Command reported that F-15 and A-10 fighter jets dropped multiple bombs during a prolonged engagement.
Helmand, the world’s largest poppy growing region, has seen the heaviest fighting in Afghanistan this year.
Airstrikes were called in against “anti-coalition militants” in the Garmsir district of Helmand province early yesterday, killing about 40 fighters, the coalition said. Soldiers found more than 20 rocket-propelled grenades, ammunition and land mines in the militants’ compound, it said.
Six civilians, including women and children, died in a separate battle in Helmand province’s Gereshk region on Wednesday after Taleban fighters fled fighting with NATO forces and sought shelter in the civilians’ homes, said Gereshk district chief Abdul Manaf Khan.
ISAF said there were “a number” of civilian casualties caused by the fighting.
Taleban fighters attacked coalition forces from a housing compound that was later targeted in an airstrike. ISAF said it was “unaware” civilians were in the area.
Civilian deaths from US and NATO military action have become a major issue in Afghanistan this year. President Hamid Karzai has repeatedly pleaded with international forces to halt such casualties.
Afghan civilian deaths have declined since several incidents earlier in the summer. Wednesday’s deaths appear to be the first since early August.
