NATO, Afghanistan forces say kill 55 rebels

Kabul, Oct 29: NATO and Afghan forces, backed by warplanes, have killed about 55 insurgents in heavy fighting in southern Uruzgan province, the alliance said.

Up to 150 rebels attacked a forward operating base in the Chora Valley, north of the provincial capital Tirin Kowt yesterday, NATO said in a statement.

During a battle that lasted several hours, attack helicopters and warplanes were called in to support the ground troops.

A NATO soldier was also killed in the province yesterday by a roadside bomb targeting his convoy.

In line with policy, NATO would not give the nationality of the dead soldier. Dutch troops make up the bulk of its force in Uruzgan and there are also several hundred Australian troops.

CIVILIAN DEATHS

Fighting in Afghanistan is the bloodiest it has been since US-led forces drove the Taliban's strict Islamist government from power in 2001.

More than 3,100 people have died, mostly militants but including more than 150 foreign soldiers and an increasing number of civilians.

NATO and Afghan authorities are investigating allegations that about 60 civilians were killed last week during operations in Kandahar province, where the Taliban was born.

NATO has confirmed civilian deaths, but will not say how many.

The alliance's supreme military commander for Europe, US Marines General James Jones, personally apologised to Presdent Hamid Karzai during a three-day visit that ended yesterday.

At the same time, suicide attacks by the Taliban and other militant groups have jumped this year, killing more than 200 people compared with 50-60 in all of 2005.

The Taliban has vowed to step up such attacks, saying it will soon use as many as six suicide bombers in a single raid instead of just one.

In the face of mounting violence, Karzai on Friday repeated an offer to talk peace with one-eyed Taliban leader Mullah Mohammad Omar if he rejected foreign support and sent home foreign fighters.

But the Taliban rejected the offer, saying it would not negotiate while international troops remained in the country.

A former prime minister from the 1990s and leader of a major militant group, Gulbuddin Hekmatyar, also said on Saturday there could never been any peace talks without a full US and NATO withdrawal.

''Until they announce that, talks with the Afghan government or Hamid Karzai can't be held because they won't have any impact,'' spokesman Mohammad Haroon told Reuters by satellite phone from an undisclosed location.

NATO has about 31,000 troops, including 12,000 soldiers, under its command and the United States has about 8,000 in the country under its own charge.

REUTERS

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