Boy killed for teaching English

2007-11-15 20:14

Kabul - Taliban militants have shot dead a teenage boy for teaching English in eastern Afghanistan, while several Taliban were killed and seven detained in a clash with coalition forces, officials said on Thursday.

Armed militants entered a school in Sayed Karam district of Paktika province and dragged the schoolboy out of his class and shot him dead, Esmatuallh Alizai, provincial police chief said.

"The boy, who was teaching English to other students after school hours, had been warned by the militants to stop teaching," Alizai said.

Police in the area arrived at the scene and two policemen and two militants were killed in the ensuing gun battle, he said.

Taliban militants have killed several teachers and students in the past for attending the government-run schools, which they regard as un-Islamic.

US-led coalition forces meanwhile killed several Taliban militants and arrested seven in a clash in Garmsir district of southern Helmand province, the US military said in a statement.

"During a search of compounds, coalition forces encountered armed militants in several buildings on the compounds," the statement said.

The US military added: "Coalition forces responded with a combination of small-arms fire; accurate, conventional munitions and precision- guided munitions killing several militants during the engagement."

During a subsequent search, combined forces also found and arrested seven militants.

More than 5 700 people, mostly insurgents, have been killed in Afghanistan this year, making it the bloodiest year since the fall of the Taliban regime in late 2001.

In a separate incident on Thursday, a Nato-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) helicopter carried out a precautionary landing due to "mechanical difficulties" in southern Logar province the ISAF said in a statement. No one was reported hurt. - Sapa-dpa

- SAPA