- Title: AFGHANISTAN: Afghan security forces battle Kandahar insurgents for second day
- Date: 9th May 2011
- Summary: KANDAHAR, AFGHANISTAN (MAY 8, 2011) (REUTERS) EXTERIOR OF DESTROYED SHOPS AND CARS DURING THE GUN BATTLE AND EXPLOSION MORE OF DESTROYED CAR AND CARTS AT THE SITE OF EXPLOSION VIEW OF CONFERENCE BY PROVINCIAL GOVERNOR TOORYALAI WESA JOURNALIST SEATED (SOUNDBITE) (Pashto) TOORYALAI WESA GOVERNOR OF KANDAHAR SAYING: "We successfully recaptured the areas which were occupied by Taliban insurgents during the two days of battle. Right now the situation is under control, eleven insurgents were killed, seven suicide bombers blew themselves up and there are around 40 causalities among police and civilians -- three police officers and one civilian were killed, and another 36 were wounded." MORE OF AFGHAN AND FOREIGN SECURITY FORCES GUARDING FROM A POLICE CHECK POST
- Embargoed: 24th May 2011 02:56
- Keywords:
- Location: Afghanistan, Afghanistan
- Country: Afghanistan
- Topics: War / Fighting
- Reuters ID: LVA8EOHJS8N9QNO1M65YAYG5MDY4
- Aspect Ratio: 4:3
- Story Text: Afghan troops clashed with the Taliban in the southern city of Kandahar for a second day on Sunday (May 8) after insurgents launched co-ordinated attacks with rocket-propelled grenades and suicide raids against government buildings.
Kandahar's provincial governor told a news conference that the situation is under control and those areas captured by insurgents were recaptured by Afghan security forces.
"We successfully recaptured the areas which were occupied by Taliban insurgents during the two days of battle. Right now the situation is under control, eleven insurgents were killed, seven suicide bombers blew themselves up and there are around 40 causalities among police and civilians -- three police officers and one civilian were killed, and another 36 were wounded," said Tooryalai Wesa, governor of Kandahar province Wesa's compound in the heart of the city was the first to come under attack on Saturday in a fusillade of rocket-propelled grenades.
In a television statement the day before, he promised that the insurgents firing on his compound from a nearby shopping mall would be killed "one by one".
The Taliban claimed responsibility for the simultaneous attacks on Wesa's office, as well as Afghanistan's intelligence agency and police outposts, saying they were part of a spring offensive that began a week ago on May 1.
Heavy machine-gun fire and explosions could still be heard, with fighting continuing in two areas of the city, as Afghan forces aided by NATO-led coalition troops mopped up remaining pockets of insurgent resistance.
The insurgency said the attacks, which involved more than six suicide bombers and explosive-packed vehicles, were nothing to do with revenge for the killing of al Qaeda ally Osama bin Laden, despite claims to the contrary by Afghanistan's President Hamid Karzai.
Other attacks occurred in the neighbouring Arghandab river valley to the west of the city, which is an important insurgent route for moving men and weapons into Kandahar city.
Kandahar, the birthplace of the Taliban, has been the focus of military operations over the past year. U.S. and NATO commanders have said they have made some security gains, but those successes are not yet entrenched.
Violence across Afghanistan last year reached its worst levels since the Taliban were overthrown in late 2001, with record casualties on all sides of the conflict. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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