Taliban Takes Control Of Afghan District

[NNN0LHI]

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2007/04/27/terror/main2734424.shtml

5 Killed, Including Local Mayor In Attack; Takeover Is Embarrassment For Government, Coalition

(CBS/AP) Taliban militants have seized control of a district in southeast Afghanistan after a clash that killed five people, including the local mayor and his police chief, a senior official said Friday.

The Taliban takeover is an embarrassment to the Afghan government and its foreign backers, and shows how vulnerable the government remains despite the presence of some 47,000 U.S. and NATO troops.

Meanwhile, a member of the U.S.-led military coalition was killed during a clash with insurgents in western Afghanistan Friday, the coalition said.

Coalition forces engaged militants in a gunbattle in the Shindand district of Herat province and called in an airstrike, a coalition statement said. It did not give any details about how the unidentified service member was killed, or the soldier's nationality.