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AFP - Tuesday, May 5 HERAT, Afghanistan (AFP) - - Heavy fighting between Taliban and security
forces in Afghanistan is believed to have left about 30 militants and
several civilians dead, some killed in air strikes, a governor said Tuesday.
Clashes erupted in the western province of Farah early Monday and
continued into the night, with international forces called in to carry
out air strikes, provincial governor Rohul Amin told AFP. The strikes killed civilians as well as rebels who had taken shelter in
people's homes, he said, but the toll was unclear as the villages in
question are outside government control. Amin said the insurgents also publicly shot dead three civilians when
they entered the area, accusing them of "working and spying for the
government." Afghan forces supported by troops from NATO's International Security
Assistance Force (ISAF) pushed out the guerrillas in several hours of
fighting on Monday, he said. "Around 30 Taliban were killed, based on the information we got," he
said, although this figure could not be confirmed. Taliban attacked the villages again at about midnight Monday and the
Afghan forces asked the ISAF for air assistance, Amin said. "ISAF forces bombed Taliban positions in the village. Taliban were using
civilian houses as shelter and trenches and they were firing from within
the civilian houses," he said. "Based on the information we have received, unfortunately in the air
strikes some civilian houses were also bombed, causing some civilian
casualties," he said, adding that a "big number" of Taliban fighters was
also believed killed. However the Taliban were still in the villages, and authorities had no
communication with their people there and so were unable to confirm the
number of dead, Amin said. ISAF's media headquarters confirmed there had been "an incident" in
Farah province but could not immediately say what had happened. The Taliban were in government in Afghanistan between 1996 and 2001
before being ousted in a US-led invasion. They are fighting to take back power from the government of President
Hamid Karzai with a campaign of bombings and suicide attacks.
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