Kabul: Three NATO service members were killed in two bomb blasts and more than 30 insurgents died in a clash with coalition troops in eastern
Afghanistan, the military alliance said on Saturday.
NATO also said it captured an insurgent commander linked
to attacks on Afghan officials and violence during last
weekend`s parliamentary elections, and killed another.
In a statement today, NATO said two service members were
killed by a bomb blast in the east, but did not provide
further details. It said another died in a separate blast in
the south.
The nationalities of NATO casualties are not generally
released until after next of kin are notified.
This year is already the deadliest of the war, with 531
international forces killed as of today.
Also in the east, more than 30 insurgents were killed
during an operation involving a combined force of about 250
Afghan National Army, Afghan National Police, and coalition
soldiers in Alishing district of Laghman province. No
civilians were harmed during the operation, NATO said.
Afghan and coalition security forces detained several
insurgents in Khost province, along the Pakistan border,
yesterday, including a Haqqani commander linked to attacks
against Afghan officials, NATO said. It said the commander was
also involved in ambushing a vehicle and stealing a ballot box
during last week`s elections.
The Haqqani network is a Pakistan-based faction of the
Taliban with close ties to al Qaeda.
The arrests led to the seizure of bomb-making material
and military equipment, including an automatic weapon, pistol,
rocket-propelled grenade launcher, magazines and loose
ammunition -- along with three US combat uniforms similar to
those recently used in attacks against a coalition base, NATO
said.
An air strike killed a Taliban commander who helped
conduct bomb attacks and was directly linked to last week`s
election violence, NATO said.
Election Day on Sept 18 was marred by rocket attacks and
bombings at polling stations in volatile areas. At least 21
civilians and nine police officers were killed during the
voting, according to the election commission and Interior
Ministry.
PTI
