British soldier, Taliban rebels killed in Afghanistan
KABUL (AFP) — A British NATO soldier and seven insurgents were killed in incidents in southern Afghanistan near a town that troops recaptured from Taliban fighters last month, officials said.
The latest deaths in a Taliban-led insurgency came as President Hamid Karzai told parliament that terrorism is the country's chief challenge and must be tackled at its roots, including those outside of the country.
The International Security Assistance Force soldier was killed and five wounded Sunday when a bomb blew up their vehicle near the town of Musa Qala in troubled Helmand province, the Ministry of Defence in London said.
"The company were disrupting enemy forces and reassuring local Afghans when a vehicle they were travelling in was hit by a roadside minestrike," the ministry said in a statement.
The death took to 10 the number of international troops killed in Afghanistan in the past three weeks, mostly in Taliban-led violence.
Seven rebels were also killed near Musa Qala Sunday, the Afghan defence ministry said.
Musa Qala was in Taliban hands for 10 months until it was retaken by Afghan and international troops in December, having served as an important rebel base.
Another rebel fighter was killed Sunday in the neighbouring province of Zabul, the defence ministry said.
The head of a national reconciliation mission in Zabul, Abdul Qayoum Mujadeddi, was also killed Sunday in an incident already reported by police.
His body was found hours after he was captured by Taliban with his driver and bodyguard, who were still missing Monday, police said.
Karzai condemned the killing in a statement Monday, saying it would not stop efforts to promote reconciliation.
Thousands of people have joined up to the reconciliation programme, in which they agree to stop fighting in return for amnesty.
The past year was the deadliest in Afghanistan since the remnants of the 1996-2001 Taliban regime launched an insurgency to topple Karzai's Western-backed government.
The insurgency sees almost daily attacks, including suicide bombings, roadside explosions and guerrilla-type run-and-hit strikes on Afghan and international troops.
Karzai said in an address to the opening of the third working year of the post-Taliban parliament terrorism was the nation's biggest challenge and must be tackled at its bases outside the country, a likely reference to Pakistan.
"Targeting its original sources, drying up its finance sources and stopping the expansion of extremism must be included as the key points in the fight on terrorism," he said.
