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02/04/2006:

"Taliban Battle Afghan Forces in Drug Region"

KABUL, Afghanistan, Feb. 3 — Heavy fighting in southern Afghanistan between the Taliban and Afghan police forces left three policemen and at least six Taliban militants dead, Afghan officials said Friday.

United States-led coalition forces and the Afghan Army were also drawn into the fighting, providing air support and ground troops in the battle that began Thursday night and lasted into Friday afternoon, an American Army spokesman said.

No American casualties were reported, he said.

The clash was one of the most serious in months, and it could be a sign that Taliban forces were regrouping in large numbers in advance of the spring. It also came as NATO prepared to take over military command of southern Afghanistan.

The clash began when the local police investigated a report of militants in an area south of Sangin, in Helmand Province, a big poppy-growing area where antigovernment militants have allied themselves with drug traffickers. The police came under fire and found themselves battling a large group of armed men, and temporarily surrounded.
nytimes.com


AFP: Fierce Fighting in Kandahar: 23 Killed
02/03/06 "AFP" --- --- Kandahar -- US-led coalition planes bombed Friday an area of southern Afghanistan where a fierce battle had erupted between Taliban-linked militants and police, leaving about 23 dead, officials said.

"Coalition ground and air forces are on the ground... they are bombing the Taliban," interior ministry spokesman Yousuf Stanizai told AFP.

"Coalition forces provided close-air support to Afghan security forces during an engagement," coalition spokesman Lieutenant Mike Cody confirmed.

The fighting broke out near southern Helmand province's Sangin district when police began a security sweep in response to several recent attacks on security posts, deputy provincial governor Amir Mohammad Akhundzada told AFP.

Reports from the battlefield said 20 rebels and three policemen had been killed, Akhundzada said.

Nearly 20 insurgents and 10 policemen were also wounded, he said. "The fighting is ongoing," he said. "The Taliban have hidden in villages; we're worried for the security of civilians." Akhundzada said he believed the police were up against a force of more than 200 men armed with machine guns and rocket-propelled grenades.