Nine Afghan soldiers killed

2005-05-05 13:55

Kabul - Nine Afghan soldiers were killed and three others were wounded when they were ambushed by militants in the southern province of Kandahar, a defence ministry spokesperson said on Thursday.

The soldiers were on a mission in Shawali Kot, a troubled district in Kandahar, when they were attacked on Wednesday, spokesperson Mohammad Nohman Atifi told AFP.

"Nine Afghan soldiers were killed and three others were wounded when their unit was ambushed by the enemies of Afghanistan," Atifi said.

He did not link the attackers to any particular group but similar attacks have in the past been blamed on the remnants of the Taliban, who have stepped up attacks on government and coalition targets in recent weeks.

The wounded soldiers were taken to a local hospital, the official said. He had no information if the attackers sustained any casualties.

Kandahar is the spiritual birthplace of the hardline Islamic Taliban regime, which was toppled by an alliance of US-led international forces and Afghan warlords in late 2001.

The Taliban's spring offensive in southern and southeastern Afghanistan has left at least 100 militants and 12 policemen dead in the last month, officials say.

The defence ministry has not given figures for how many soldiers have died during the same period.

On Tuesday around 40 suspected Taliban militants were killed in a fierce firefight with Afghan and US troops, according to the US military.

- SAPA