Second Taliban boat sinks, 30 killed

AFGHANISTAN: More than 30 Taliban militants were killed when their boat sank in a river in southern Afghanistan, the defence ministry said Tuesday, in the second such incident in four days.

Soldiers fired on the boat as it crossed a river in southern Helmand province on Monday, ministry spokesman General Mohammad Zahir Azimi said.“Over 30 Taliban were on board and all of them drowned and died,” he told AFP.

About 60 fleeing Taliban guerrillas were confirmed dead by the ministry after their boat sank in volatile Helmand on Friday.

Earlier Soldiers under attack in southern Afghanistan called in military bombers in a four-hour battle that left an “estimated two dozen enemy fighters killed,” the US-led coalition said Tuesday.

Afghan and coalition soldiers were attacked with rocket and gunfire Monday in the same area of Kandahar where soldiers from the separate NATO-led force came under fire the day before, leaving eight wounded. “Coalition close air support was requested and munitions were dropped on three enemy positions,” the coalition said in a statement.

“There were an estimated two dozen enemy fighters killed during the four-hour battle and no reports of Afghan civilian injuries,” it said.

The battle was about 35 kilometres north of Kandahar city, which sees regulars attacks by Taliban fighters.

Kabul, Tuesday, AFP