Kabul, Aug 12: A wave of Taliban attacks across
Afghanistan killed 29 people, including four international
soldiers and nearly two dozen militants, military officials
said today.
The violence came after a week of intense fighting as the
Taliban's al-Qaeda-backed insurgency, launched nearly six
years ago, intensified into the summer.
Three soldiers with the us-led coalition and their Afghan
interpreter were killed near the border with Pakistan, when
they were hit by a bomb during combat, the force said in a
statement.
Taliban fighters were responsible for the attack in
Nangarhar province, a spokesman said,
claiming the soldiers were us nationals.
The coalition withheld their nationalities but most
of the international soldiers in eastern Afghanistan are from
the US military.
Earlier, the British Defence Ministry announced that a
British soldier was killed and five wounded after their patrol
came under fire from Taliban insurgents in southern
Afghanistan yesterday.
The attack was in the volatile Sangin district of Helmand
province, considered a hotbed of Islamic extremists and opium
farmers said to help finance the insurgency.
Militants also ambushed an Afghan Army patrol in Sangin
overnight, the Afghan Ministry of defence said. The attack
sparked a fierce gun battle in which seven rebels were killed
and seven wounded, it said.
Bureau Report
First Published: Monday, August 13, 2007, 00:00