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Afghan Governor Says 13 Taleban Killed, 44 Arrested in South

Posted on: Monday, 5 September 2005, 09:00 CDT

Text of report in English by Afghan independent Pajhwok news agency website

Kandahar city, 5 September: At least 13 suspected Taleban fighters have been killed and 44 arrested in Ghowrak District of southern Kandahar Province, a senior official claimed on Monday.

Kandahar Governor Asadollah Khaled told Pajhwok Afghan News the Afghan National Army and US forces launched a joint operation against suspected Taleban after the kidnapping and killing of election candidates by the insurgents.

He added that the Afghan air force, which rarely takes part in crackdowns on insurgents, was also involved in the operation. The governor rejected reports of civilian casualties in the bombing of militant hideouts in the mountainous area.

Asadollah Khaled was unsure which group the detainees belonged to, saying they had been shifted to the provincial capital for investigation. He hoped the investigators would be able to establish the identities of the arrested suspects.

The operation came hard on the heels of the kidnapping of the Ghowrak district chief, a candidate and three other people by the Taleban. On Saturday, Latifollah Hakimi said the five were executed, but Khaled told newsmen they had not yet found the abductees' bodies.

Meanwhile, Gen Mohammad Sarwar, deputy commander of the Kandahar army corps, said three Taleban suspects had been arrested in neighbouring Helmand Province in a separate operation.

Regarding the two Japanese tourists, whose bullet-riddled bodies were found in the desert over the weekend, the governor opined they had been killed elsewhere. Their bodies were later dumped in the arid area, the governor concluded.

Source: BBC Monitoring South Asia

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