http://www.arabtimesonline.com/arabtimes/world/Viewdet.asp?ID=8951&cat=a
NATO airstrike ‘destroys’ Taleban’s command post; Senior militant killed KABUL, Afghanistan (Agencies): A NATO airstrike destroyed a Taleban command post in southern Afghanistan, killing a senior militant leader, the alliance said Friday, while 10 suspected rebel fighters died in a clash with police in the east. An undisclosed number of the militant leader’s deputies were also killed in Thursday’s airstrike in Musa Qala district of southern Helmand province, a NATO statement said. It did not disclose the name of the leader. The military alliance has claimed a string of successes against Taleban leaders — including the killing last month of a top lieutenant of the militia’s fugitive chief, Mullah Omar — after a year of bitter fighting that has left thousands dead. The airstrike occurred outside the town of Musa Qala, where a deal signed between local elders and the Helmand governor, with the support of the British task force based in the province, turned over security responsibilities to local leaders. The deal also prevents NATO-led troops from entering the town. Before the deal, which has been criticized by some Western officials as putting the area outside government control, the town was a center of fierce clashes between British troops and resurgent Taleban militants. NATO said the airstrike did not violate the pact. “This successful air strike took place in the vicinity of Musa Qala but was outside of the area of the agreement between the government of Afghanistan ... and local elders,” the NATO statement said. In eastern Afghanistan, Afghan border police clashed with suspected militants in Paktika province near the Pakistani border Thursday, killing 10 suspected Taleban and a policeman, said Ghammai Mohammadi, spokesman for the province’s governor. Five police and 15 militants were wounded. Ghammai said the militants took the dead and wounded across the border into Pakistan. His claims could not be verified. Also Thursday, in southern Kandahar province, two gunmen on a motorbike fatally shot the chief of the criminal department of police in Panjwayi district, said Mohammad Akbar Khan, a police official. NATO agreed Friday to step up military and economic efforts to counter Afghan insurgents and US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice called for a “new offensive” against Taleban-led fighters. The United States has already announced it will spend an extra 10.6 billion dollars in Afghanistan and extend the tour of duty of more than 3,000 US troops there by four months. “The message has been clear that the international community intends to keep up the initiative in Afghanistan,” NATO Secretary General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer said. after talks between alliance foreign ministers in Brussels. “That means more reconstruction, and we have heard more nations stepping up to the plate as far as their activities are concerned in the field of reconstruction and development,” he said. Scheffer said extra troops would probably be discussed when Nato defence ministers meet in the Seville, Spain on February 8-9. With the Taleban expected to step up attacks this spring as the weather warms, Rice said the allies must launch a broad compaign across several fronts. “If there is to be a ‘spring offensive’, it must be our offensive,” she told the ministers. “It must be a political campaign, an economic campaign, a diplomatic campaign, and yes, a military campaign,” she added in remarks prepared for the conference. Rice presented details of the new 10.6 billion-dollar aid package for the next two years. Since 2001 US spending in Afghanistan has totalled 14.2 billion dollars. The new money would in part finance extra Afghan army and police forces. Two billion dollars will go to develop roads, electrical power supplies, rural development and counter-narcotics operations. “These are substantial new US commitments — financial, military and political — to advance our common effort in Afghanistan,” Rice said. “Every one of us must take a hard look at what more we can do to help the Afghan people — and to support one another,” she said. There was no immediate announcement from other countries of increased resources. +++ -------------------------- Want to discuss this topic? Head on over to our discussion list, [EMAIL PROTECTED] -------------------------- Brooks Isoldi, editor [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.intellnet.org Post message: [email protected] Subscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Unsubscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED] *** FAIR USE NOTICE. This message contains copyrighted material whose use has not been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. 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