Some 30 Taliban Reported Killed In Afghanistan
September 9, 2007 (RFE/RL) -- More than 30 Taliban militants are reported to have been killed in fighting in southern Afghanistan, while Pakistani troops reported killing 11 more pro-Taliban militants along the border in northwestern Pakistan, and two Pakistani soldiers killed.
The British Defense Ministry said two British soldiers were killed on September 8 when their patrol was attacked during an operation against Taliban in Helmand Province. Two British troops were also seriously wounded, and several insurgents were reported killed.
The United States military said Afghan and U.S.-led coalition forces, backed by air strikes, killed more than 30 Taliban fighters in a separate clash in Helmand.
Meanwhile, the United Nations says in a new report that more than half of the suicide bombers used by the Taliban for attacks in Afghanistan are not Afghan nationals.
The report says more than 80 percent of the bombers are recruited and trained in neighboring Pakistan. The report notes a steep increase in suicide attacks in Afghanistan, with 17 attacks recorded in 2005, 123 in 2006, and more than 100 so far this year.
The report was released on today's sixth anniversary of the suicide attack that killed Northern Alliance leader Ahmed Shah Massud.
(RFE/RL's Radio Free Afghanistan, AFP, AP, Reuters)