US military claims killing of 42 Taliban in Afghanistan 

DPA, Wed, 29 Apr 2009 15:29:49 GMT

Kabul -

The US military claimed Wednesday that its forces killed 42 alleged Taliban fighters in operations in Afghanistan, while a NATO soldier and a civilian were killed in other incidents. A coalition airstrike killed 23 alleged Taliban fighters Wednesday in the Langar area of Tarin Kot, the provincial capital of the southern province of Uruzgan, after they attacked an Afghan and US-led coalition patrol in the area, the US military said in a statement.

Also on Wednesday, nine other alleged Taliban fighters were killed in a separate clash with Afghan-coalition forces in Lashkargah, the provincial capital of the southern province of Helmand, the military statement said.

Meanwhile, in the central province of Logar, US-led troops and Afghan forces killed an estimated 10 alleged Taliban fighters in the Baraki Barak district Tuesday, the US military said.

Acting on intelligence that Taliban operatives were in the area, the combined forces engaged them near a targeted compound and inside the house, killing 10 of them, it said.

Two other alleged Taliban fighters were detained during the operation while rocket-propelled grenades and hand grenades were seized, it said.

Logar province, which borders Kabul, has seen increased Taliban activity in the past year. More than 1,500 US troops were sent to the province in January to quell the Taliban fighters' resistance there and prevent their advance toward the capital.

An Afghan civilian was shot dead by NATO-led troops near Kabul while an alliance soldier was killed in the south, officials said Wednesday.

Soldiers in the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) killed the civilian Tuesday when he failed to stop at a checkpoint in the Sayed Abad district in the central province of Wardak despite several verbal and visual signals, an ISAF statement said. The man died later in hospital.

Separately, an ISAF soldier was killed in southern Afghanistan Tuesday, the alliance said, but did not disclose the soldier's nationality or cause of death.

More than 70,000 international soldiers are stationed under the commands of the NATO-led ISAF and US-led coalition forces in Afghanistan

US military says 42 alleged Taliban fighters killed in Afghanistan

by Bronwen Roberts Bronwen Roberts – Wed Apr 29, 2009, 9:41 am ET

KABUL (AFP) –

 US-led troops battled alleged Taliban fighters in Afghanistan on Wednesday and announced they killed 42 of them, while a Taliban suicide bomber wounded five German soldiers.

The clashes came as a Taliban commander threatened a new campaign of suicide bombings and attacks in response to an imminent surge of 21,000 US troops under a sweeping new strategy rolled out by Washington to stabilise the country.

The deadliest battle was in the southern province of Uruzgan where the US military said nearly two dozen alleged Taliban fighters were killed after ambushing a patrol of coalition troops and police.

"Afghan and coalition forces returned fire and called for close air support, killing 23 (of them)," it said in a statement.

Nine more were killed in the adjoining province of Helmand in fighting that erupted when troops "positively identified armed (Afghanis) preparing an attack from inside a wooded area," the same statement said.

Security forces also found nearly 100 kilograms (220 pounds) of opium and 2,400 kilograms of ammonium nitrate used to produce explosives, it said.

The US military said 10 alleged Taliban fighters were killed in a battle with troops under US command southwest of Kabul in the strategic province of Logar -- the site of a multi-billion-dollar Chinese project to develop a copper mine.

The death tolls could not be independently verified.

There are around 38,000 US soldiers in Afghanistan in a foreign deployment of roughly 70,000 -- with Britain and Germany the other top contributors.

Five German troops were wounded Wednesday in a suicide car bomb attack targeting a German convoy in the northern province of Kunduz, said the defence ministry in Berlin.

The attack, claimed by the Taliban, came as German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier and Afghan President Hamid Karzai discussed boosting troop numbers to secure an August election, the presidency announced.

Concerned about escalating violence in Afghanistan and widening Taliban control in nuclear-armed Pakistan, the United States and other countries have pledged more soldiers for Afghanistan.

Germany has 3,500 soldiers in NATO's International Security Assistance Force -- the third-largest military contingent behind those of the United States and Britain.

The German parliament has voted to increase its deployment to 4,500.

Britain will boost its troops in Afghanistan to 9,000 to help the country through the elections, Prime Minister Gordon Brown said Wednesday, unveiling a new strategy for Afghanistan and Pakistan.

Turkey is also envisaging sending more soldiers to Afghanistan, on top of 800 infantry soldiers based in Kabul, army chief Ilker Basbug said.

And Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd announced Wednesday he would increase his country's troop commitment by 450 soldiers to 1,550.

The Taliban threatened new suicide attacks in response to the imminent arrival of thousands of extra Western troops.

"Operation Nasrat" (Victory) would be launched on Thursday, and would also target Afghan officials and international diplomats, claimed Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid, who read out a statement to AFP over the telephone.

"Our targets will be the units of the invading forces, diplomatic stations, convoys, ranking officials of the puppet government, MPs, and employees of the defence, interior and intelligence ministries," it said.