Security Developments in Afghanistan

Following are security developments in Afghanistan on Saturday, June 13, 2009 as reported by Reuters.

FARAH – Afghan and foreign troops have killed 12 Taliban insurgents, including two of their commanders, in an operation in western Farah province, the Afghan intelligence office said on Saturday.

HELMAND – A suicide bomber killed eight people and wounded 21 others in an attack on trucks parked at a fuel station in the Girishk district of southern Helmand province overnight, the district chief said. The trucks were carrying supplies for foreign troops in the province. In a statement posted on a website, Taliban militants claimed responsibility for the attack.

KANDAHAR – A roadside bomb killed three policemen in southern Kandahar city overnight, a police official said.

HELMAND – A British soldier was killed by an explosion while on an operation near Sangin in the north of Helmand on Friday, Britain’s Ministry of Defense said.

PAKTIA – One driver was killed and two guards were wounded when Taliban fighters attacked a convoy carrying supplies for international troops in eastern Paktia province, a spokesman for Paktia’s governor said.

PAKTIA – Three people were killed when a private construction firm’s vehicle was hit by a roadside bomb in a different district of Paktia, the spokesman said.

Following are security developments in Afghanistan on Friday, June 12, 2009 as reported by Reuters.

HELMAND – Afghan police killed 12 insurgents in a clash in southern Helmand province on Thursday, the interior ministry said. One police officer was wounded.

PAKTIA – A roadside bomb killed three Afghan soldiers in southeastern Paktia province, provincial officials said.

FARYAB – Taliban insurgents shot dead a local police chief and his driver in an ambush in northwestern Faryab overnight, the interior ministry said.

KUNAR – Two Afghan civilians were killed and five wounded by mortar fire from NATO-led troops in eastern Kunar province on Thursday, the alliance said. The troops fired the mortar rounds in response to an attack by insurgents, it said.

KANDAHAR – A soldier with the NATO-led force was killed in an explosion in southern Afghanistan on Thursday, the alliance said. The Ministry of Defense in London issued a statement saying a British soldier had been killed near Kandahar.

Following are security developments in Afghanistan on Thursday, June 11, 2009 as reported by Reuters.

BADGHIS – Afghan and NATO-led troops backed by air support killed and wounded a “significant” number of insurgents in a major battle in northwestern Badghis province on Wednesday, NATO said in a statement. An alliance official would not give exact figures and said the operation was ongoing. Two helicopters were damaged by small-arms fire but were able to continue flying, the statement said. It said there were no deaths among the Afghan and foreign troops.

FARAH – Two Afghan soldiers were killed and three foreign soldiers wounded in a clash with Taliban-led insurgents in the western province of Farah, provincial governor Ruhol Amin said. The Afghan and foreign troops were carrying out an operation in Shewan village in Bala Boluk district when a gunfight broke out, he said. A Taliban spokesman in west Afghanistan would not say whether any insurgents were killed.

GHOR – A U.S. air strike may not have killed Mullah Mustafa, a wanted Afghan insurgent commander in western Ghor province, as reported on Wednesday, the U.S. military said. The military was checking reports that civilians were among the dead, it said.

BAGHLAN – Four Afghan police were killed in a clash with Taliban insurgents in northern Baghlan province on Wednesday, a provincial official said.

BAGHLAN – Government forces killed 20 Taliban fighters in operations in other parts of Baghlan on Wednesday, the defense ministry said. One soldier was killed and three wounded, it said in a statement.

KANDAHAR – A roadside bomb killed three private bank guards and wounded two more in southern Kandahar city, the interior ministry said.

PAKTIKA – A roadside bomb killed two guards working for a private construction firm in southeastern Paktika, the interior ministry said.

GHAZNI – Three Taliban fighters and three Afghan soldiers were killed in a clash in Ghazni, southwest of Kabul, a provincial official said.

SOUTHERN AFGHANISTAN – A soldier with the NATO-led force was killed in southern Afghanistan on Wednesday, the alliance said.

Following are security developments in Afghanistan on Wednesday, June 10, 2009 as reported by Reuters.

GHAZNI – Three Afghan soldiers were killed and two were wounded when their vehicle was hit by a roadside bomb in the Qarabagh district of Ghazni province, southwest of the capital Kabul, District Police Chief Ghafur Khan said. Afghan soldiers returned fire after the blast, killing three insurgents, he said.

GHAZNI – Insurgents ambushed an Afghan police convoy in the Zana Khan district of Ghazni province, killing two policemen and wounding another two, provincial police chief Khialbaz Sherzai said. Four insurgents were also killed and five wounded in a firefight that lasted through late morning and into the afternoon, he said.

URUZGAN – Afghan and foreign troops killed 30 Taliban insurgents during an operation launched three days ago in Char Cheno district of southern Uruzgan province, the provincial police chief said. Two police were also killed during the operation. He said another three officers were killed late on Tuesday in a Taliban attack in another part of Uruzgan.

KUNDUZ – Afghan soldiers killed five insurgents during an operation in northern Kunduz province on Tuesday, the Defense Ministry said. One soldier was also wounded in the fighting.

KUNAR – Afghan soldiers killed two insurgents and wounded five more during an operation in the eastern province of Kunar on Tuesday, the Defense Ministry said.

GHOR – U.S. forces said they killed a “warlord” and 16 other militants with an air strike in Ghor Province in western Afghanistan. They named the target as Mullah Mustafa and said he commanded 100 fighters and was reported to have links to Taliban leaders and to Iran’s Revolutionary Guards.

No report filed for Tuesday, June 9, 2009.

Following are security developments in Afghanistan on Monday, June 8, 2009 as reported by Reuters.

ZABUL – Afghan police killed 20 Taliban during a clash on Sunday in southern Zabul province, the interior ministry said. One policeman was killed and two wounded when a roadside bomb hit their convoy after the clash, it said.

GHAZNI – Six Taliban were killed during a firefight with police after they attempted to ambush a police convoy, a provincial official said. The Taliban could not be reached for comment on either report.

KUNDUZ – Two German soldiers from the NATO-led force were wounded when a roadside bomb hit their vehicle in northern Kunduz province on Monday, the provincial governor said.

Following are security developments in Afghanistan on Sunday, June 7, 2009 as reported by Reuters.

FARYAB – Taliban guerrillas stormed an Afghan police post and killed four officers in northwestern Faryab province, a provincial official said.

KANDAHAR – A roadside bomb killed a woman and her child in southern Kandahar province, the interior ministry said.

PAKTIKA – Taliban fighters ambushed a government convoy, killing a police officer and wounding a district governor in southeastern Paktika province, a provincial spokesman said.

PAKTIKA – In a separate ambush, Taliban fighters killed four guards working for a security company, the spokesman said.

GHAZNI – Three soldiers and three Taliban were killed in a clash overnight in Ghazni province to the southwest of Kabul, a provincial official said.

SOUTHERN AFGHANISTAN – A soldier from the NATO-led force was killed in southern Afghanistan on Saturday, the alliance said.

KABUL – Several police were wounded in a gunbattle with a group of armed men wearing military uniforms in Kabul city overnight, the interior ministry said. It was unclear whether the gunmen were criminals or insurgents.

Following are security developments in Afghanistan on Saturday, June 6, 2009 as reported by Reuters.

KANDAHAR – A suicide bomber killed three Afghan civilians, including a woman and a child, and wounded 11 others in the southern border town of Spin Boldak, said Jawid Ahmad, a senior border police officer. He said the bomber had tried to attack police but detonated a vest packed with explosives before reaching his target. The Interior Ministry said one woman was killed in the attack, which it said was carried out on a motorbike. It said two women and five children were among eleven wounded.

PAKTIKA – One insurgent was killed and two others were wounded and detained by Afghan troops during an operation in eastern Bermel district on Friday, the Ministry of Defense said.

PAKTIA/GHAZNI – Two roadside bombs wounded nine Afghan soldiers in separate incidents in the Andar district of central Ghazni province and in the Waza Zadran district of eastern Paktia province on Thursday, the Defense Ministry said.

ZABUL/HELMAND – One Afghan soldier was killed and five others were wounded in two roadside bomb attacks in the southern provinces of Zabul and Helmand on Thursday, the Defense Ministry said.