Civilians, Taliban Killed In Southern Afghan Province
January 12, 2007
January 12, 2006 -- The chief of police in Afghanistan's southern Helmand Province, Mohammad Nabi Mullahkhail, says a NATO air strike there has killed 16 suspected Taliban insurgents and 13 civilians.
A NATO spokesman confirmed the January 11 air strike, but said there was no information suggesting civilian casualties.
NATO, which came under heavy pressure from Kabul in 2006 over noncombatant fatalities, vowed to reduce civilian deaths at the hands of international forces in 2007.
The latest strikes come after NATO-led forces the same day said forces had killed or injured some 130 suspected Taliban militants crossing into Afghanistan's eastern Paktika Province from Pakistan.
In fresh violence today, a suicide bomber rammed an explosives-filled car into a vehicle in Logar Province, south
of Kabul. Police said a U.S. national and two Afghan civilians were injured.
(Reuters, dpa, AP, AFP)