Clashes leave 71 suspected Taliban dead [View All]

[Judi Lynn]

Aug. 20, 2006, 10:34AM
Clashes leave 71 suspected Taliban dead

By NOOR KHAN Associated Press Writer
© 2006 The Associated Press

KANDAHAR, Afghanistan — Afghan police backed by NATO aircraft and artillery killed 71 suspected Taliban militant in fierce clashes that also left five Afghan forces dead in southern Afghanistan, officials said Sunday.

The 71 insurgents were killed when they attacked police in Panjwayi district in southern Kandahar province late Saturday, said Niaz Mohammad Sarhadi, the district chief, in one of the bloodiest clashes since the 2001 U.S.-led invasion.

Militants also ambushed another police patrol in western Afghanistan's Farah province on Sunday, sparking a gunbattle that left one officer and two attackers dead and six officers and three attackers injured, said Ghulam Dastagir Azad, the governor of the neighboring Nimroz province.

The clash in southern Afghanistan lasted until early Sunday and was part of an ongoing operation "to extend security" along the main Kabul-Kandahar highway, said Maj. Toby Jackman, a spokesman for the force.
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http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/front/4129068.html