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Taliban fighters attack Afghan government border post
Kandahar, July 20: Around 60 suspected Taliban fighters attacked a border post in southern Afghanistan with heavy machine guns and assault rifles before escaping across the border into Pakistan, a government official said today.
Kandahar, July 20: Around 60 suspected Taliban
fighters attacked a border post in southern Afghanistan with
heavy machine guns and assault rifles before escaping across
the border into Pakistan, a government official said today.
No soldiers were hurt in the three-hour gunbattle late yesterday at the Shero Obah government post on the border with Pakistan, said Khalik Khan Achekzai. About 15 Afghan government soldiers were in the compound at the time of the attack, he said.
It's not known if any of the attackers were injured or killed. An additional 100 Afghan soldiers accompanied by about 20 US special forces stationed in Kandahar, about 100 km away, were called in to help. "They (the attackers) came from the direction of Pakistan. When we sent more troops with US soldiers, they crossed the border and returned to Pakistan," Achekzai said. The US special forces called in helicopter gunships which pounded the area.
While no group took responsibility for the attack, suspicion immediately fell on the Taliban militia, which was ousted in the US-led coalition's war on terror in late 2001.
The afghan government has complained about the presence of suspected Taliban leaders in Pakistan's lawless tribal belt, where tribesmen openly promise refuge to Taliban.
Bureau Report.
No soldiers were hurt in the three-hour gunbattle late yesterday at the Shero Obah government post on the border with Pakistan, said Khalik Khan Achekzai. About 15 Afghan government soldiers were in the compound at the time of the attack, he said.
It's not known if any of the attackers were injured or killed. An additional 100 Afghan soldiers accompanied by about 20 US special forces stationed in Kandahar, about 100 km away, were called in to help. "They (the attackers) came from the direction of Pakistan. When we sent more troops with US soldiers, they crossed the border and returned to Pakistan," Achekzai said. The US special forces called in helicopter gunships which pounded the area.
While no group took responsibility for the attack, suspicion immediately fell on the Taliban militia, which was ousted in the US-led coalition's war on terror in late 2001.
The afghan government has complained about the presence of suspected Taliban leaders in Pakistan's lawless tribal belt, where tribesmen openly promise refuge to Taliban.
Bureau Report.