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Two Afghan militiamen wounded in fighting near US base
Kabul, May 09: Two militiamen suffered gunshot wounds during fighting between Afghan factions near an American base in southwestern Afghanistan, the US military said today.
Kabul, May 09: Two militiamen suffered gunshot wounds
during fighting between Afghan factions near an American base in southwestern Afghanistan, the US military said today.
The two factions fought each other near Geresk, a village
in Helmand province, about 110 kilometers west of the southern city of Kandahar yesterday, the military said in a statement from its headquarters at Bagram Air Base.
Two A-10 tankbuster planes were scrambled from Bagram to provide air support to one of the sides during the firefight, the statement said. It did not say whether the planes fired on any targets, nor did it identify the factions or say why they were fighting. The two men were taken to the US base at Kandahar air field and were in stable condition, the statement said. One militia man was shot in the left hand and leg, the other was hit in the right forearm, it added.
The US-led coalition has formed alliances with various private militias belonging to warlords who have pledged their loyalty to the Central government. Coalition forces are training a new Afghan National Army which will eventually take over national defense. About 11,500 coalition soldiers remain in Afghanistan hunting the remnants of the ousted Taliban regime, fugitives from the al-Qaeda terrorist network and loyalists of renegade commander Gulbuddin Hekmatyar.
Bureau Report
Two A-10 tankbuster planes were scrambled from Bagram to provide air support to one of the sides during the firefight, the statement said. It did not say whether the planes fired on any targets, nor did it identify the factions or say why they were fighting. The two men were taken to the US base at Kandahar air field and were in stable condition, the statement said. One militia man was shot in the left hand and leg, the other was hit in the right forearm, it added.
The US-led coalition has formed alliances with various private militias belonging to warlords who have pledged their loyalty to the Central government. Coalition forces are training a new Afghan National Army which will eventually take over national defense. About 11,500 coalition soldiers remain in Afghanistan hunting the remnants of the ousted Taliban regime, fugitives from the al-Qaeda terrorist network and loyalists of renegade commander Gulbuddin Hekmatyar.
Bureau Report