Six Taliban killed in Helmand
14 March, 2013
HELMAND: Six Taliban fighters and a policeman were killed in Sangin district of Helmand province yesterday, officials said Wednesday. The local officials of Helmand showed the bodies of dead Taliban fighters to reporters on Wednesday. The Afghan Islamic Press (AIP) correspondent was also present on the occasion. On the occasion, the Sangin police chief Shamsullah told reporters the Taliban attacked a police patrol in Charkhakano Manda area, two kilometres from Sangin's district headquarters, late yesterday. Six Taliban fighters, including their commanders Mullah Shah Wali and Mullah Abdul Wali, and a cop were killed and two more policemen sustained injuries in the gunfight, he added. Mullah Shah Wali was a renowned Taliban commander in the area who also shot down two helicopters of the foreign forces few years ago, Shamsullah told the AIP. The police chief expressed ignorance about the presence of foreign forces in the gunfight. However, the ISAF press office in Kabul told the AIP that Afghan and Coalition joint force conducted operation in Sangin district late yesterday. It said six Taliban fighters were killed in the offensive. A member of Sangin district tribal shura, Bibi Zuhra told the AIP the Taliban fighters had been shot from aircrafts, and that their bodies were lying on both sides of the road. Meanwhile, the Taliban spokesman Qari Muhammad Yousaf Ahmadi told the AIP that nine Afghan troops were killed and their two vehicles destroyed in the gunfight. He said the foreign forces targeted Taliban from aircrafts, killing three of them. He, however, added he did not have information where the dead included Mullah Shah Wali and Mullah Abdul Wali. Some residents of Sangin told the AIP peace had not restored to the district, and that clashes took place at times. The Taliban on Wednesday attacked a motorcade, in which reporters and the Helmand police officials were also present, in Fateh Muhammad Manda area. Some bullets hit the vehicles. It, however, did not cause casualties. The area was quite insecure few years ago when British troops were present in Helmand province. Clashes have decreased in the area compared to the past. However, Afghan and foreign forces have not been successful to maintain compete security in the district. End.
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