Team Infidel
Forum Spin Doctor
New York Times
April 15, 2008
Pg. 9
By Taimoor Shah and Carlotta Gall
KANDAHAR, Afghanistan — Taliban insurgents attacked a police checkpoint north of this city early Monday, killing 11 police officers and burning their vehicles before vanishing into the night.
The attack, on the main road between the southern provinces of Kandahar and Oruzgan, where the Taliban remain strong, was another illustration of how weak Afghanistan’s police force remains despite efforts to improve training and upgrade equipment.
A policeman on watch on the roof was strangled, and was found in a room with two policemen who had been bound and shot in the head, said Nazar Jan, a policeman at the scene Monday morning. Eight other policemen were found shot dead in the room where they had slept, he said. One policeman was shot in the feet as he escaped, Mr. Jan said.
Mr. Jan said that he had heard the shooting from his checkpoint, but that because it had not lasted long, he and his colleagues had not thought much of it.
A spokesman for the Taliban, Qari Yousuf Ahmadi, claimed responsibility for the attack by telephone. The Interior Ministry confirmed the details in a statement issued in the capital, Kabul, adding that the wounded policeman was out of danger.
The Afghan police continue to bear the brunt of the Taliban insurgency, because they are often posted in small stations and come under attack at night.
In a separate attack on Sunday west of Kandahar, two British soldiers were killed in an explosion and two others were wounded, the British Defense Ministry announced in London.
The president of the International Committee of the Red Cross, Jakob Kellenberger, said his organization had seen an increase in war wounded since 2006 and through 2007. During a weeklong visit to Afghanistan, he called on all parties in the conflict, including NATO and American military representatives and members of the “armed opposition,” to protect civilians and medical facilities.
April 15, 2008
Pg. 9
By Taimoor Shah and Carlotta Gall
KANDAHAR, Afghanistan — Taliban insurgents attacked a police checkpoint north of this city early Monday, killing 11 police officers and burning their vehicles before vanishing into the night.
The attack, on the main road between the southern provinces of Kandahar and Oruzgan, where the Taliban remain strong, was another illustration of how weak Afghanistan’s police force remains despite efforts to improve training and upgrade equipment.
A policeman on watch on the roof was strangled, and was found in a room with two policemen who had been bound and shot in the head, said Nazar Jan, a policeman at the scene Monday morning. Eight other policemen were found shot dead in the room where they had slept, he said. One policeman was shot in the feet as he escaped, Mr. Jan said.
Mr. Jan said that he had heard the shooting from his checkpoint, but that because it had not lasted long, he and his colleagues had not thought much of it.
A spokesman for the Taliban, Qari Yousuf Ahmadi, claimed responsibility for the attack by telephone. The Interior Ministry confirmed the details in a statement issued in the capital, Kabul, adding that the wounded policeman was out of danger.
The Afghan police continue to bear the brunt of the Taliban insurgency, because they are often posted in small stations and come under attack at night.
In a separate attack on Sunday west of Kandahar, two British soldiers were killed in an explosion and two others were wounded, the British Defense Ministry announced in London.
The president of the International Committee of the Red Cross, Jakob Kellenberger, said his organization had seen an increase in war wounded since 2006 and through 2007. During a weeklong visit to Afghanistan, he called on all parties in the conflict, including NATO and American military representatives and members of the “armed opposition,” to protect civilians and medical facilities.