Afghan militancy gets thrust with 30 people killed in 2 days - Nzweek

by Abdul Haleem, Chen Xin

KABUL, Oct. 2 (Xinhua) — Militancy in the conflict-ridden Afghanistan has got new momentum as 30 people including 11 Taliban militants and three soldiers with the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force have been killed over the past two days.

In the latest incident that has claimed the lives of anti- government militants was the explosion of ammunition in Taliban former stronghold Kandahar late Monday night which left 11 Taliban fighters dead, Kandahar provincial administration confirmed in a statement released here Tuesday.

"A powerful blast took place in a weapon and ammunition cache of Taliban outfit killing 11 militants on the spot which occurred in Kanjoso area of Spin Boldak district bordering Pakistan late Monday night," the statement added.

Two Taliban commanders are among those killed in the deadly blast, the statement emphasized.

However, Taliban militants fighting the government are yet to make comment.

A previous security incident, which happened in the shape of suicide bombing and rattled the eastern Khost province early Monday, claimed the lives of 16 people, mostly civilians, and injured scores others.

"In the coward terror attack which took place at 08:30 a.m. local time Monday, the suicide bomber blew him up in the provincial capital Khost city, killing 16 people including 10 innocent civilians and injuring 61 others including three police," a statement of the Khost provincial government sent to media outlets asserted.

Six policemen including Mubarak Shah, commander of the Rapid Reaction Force, are among those killed in the bloody suicide bombing, the statement confirmed.

Three NATO soldiers were also killed in the blast, the alliance confirmed in a statement released here.

Zabihullah Mujahid who claims to speak for the Taliban outfit in talks with media via telephone from unknown location claimed responsibility for the deadly attack, saying a Taliban fighter named Shoaib Kunduzi had carried out the suicide bombing that killed several Afghans and foreign soldiers including six Americans and an interpreter.

Often the non-combatants have been bearing the brunt of endemic conflict in Afghanistan.

A total of 1,145 Afghan civilians were killed and 1,954 injured in conflicts and violent security mishaps in the first six months this year in insurgency-hit Afghanistan, 15 percent down in overall civilian casualties from a year earlier, according to a United Nations report released in Kabul on Aug. 8.

The UN report, however, attributed 80 percent of the civilian deaths to the attacks committed by Taliban insurgents and other armed groups opposing the Afghan government. Another 10 percent of the deaths were attributed to Afghan and NATO-led forces and the remaining 10 percent were unattributed.