Taliban Takes Control Of Afghan District

5 Killed, Including Local Mayor In Attack; Takeover Is Embarrassment For Government, Coalition

(CBS/AP)  Taliban militants have seized control of a district in southeast Afghanistan after a clash that killed five people, including the local mayor and his police chief, a senior official said Friday.

The Taliban takeover is an embarrassment to the Afghan government and its foreign backers, and shows how vulnerable the government remains despite the presence of some 47,000 U.S. and NATO troops.

Meanwhile, a member of the U.S.-led military coalition was killed during a clash with insurgents in western Afghanistan Friday, the coalition said.

Coalition forces engaged militants in a gunbattle in the Shindand district of Herat province and called in an airstrike, a coalition statement said. It did not give any details about how the unidentified service member was killed, or the soldier's nationality.

The U.S. Department of Defense has reported 316 U.S. military deaths in and around Afghanistan, including 199 killed in action, as of April 21.

The Taliban launched their takeover attack Thursday evening on the Giro district of Ghazni province, setting fire to several buildings and cutting communication lines, said provincial deputy governor Kazim Allayer.

The district mayor and four policemen, including the police chief, were killed in a battle with the militants that lasted several hours, Allayer said. Police reinforcements have been sent to the area, Ghazni's deputy police chief Mohammad Zaman said.

Giro is about 110 miles southwest of Kabul.

"Giro collapsed last night, captured by the Taliban after heavy fighting between the police and the Taliban," said Gen. Murad Ali, deputy regional corps commander of the Afghan army.

Ali said that early Friday the Afghan army sent troops from Ghazni and Paktika to assist.

NATO and the U.S.-led coalition said they were aware of the incident.

"The details are very sketchy right now. We're tracking it closely," said Maj. William Mitchell, a spokesman for the coalition.

After a winter lull in attacks, the Taliban have stepped up bombings and attacks in recent weeks, as NATO-led forces push forward with their biggest ever offensive in southern Afghanistan to root out militants in the opium-producing heartland of Helmand province.

Meanwhile in eastern Khost province, gunmen assassinated a criminal investigation policeman as he was driving Friday in Tani district, said provincial police chief Gen. Mohammad Ayub.

A relative in the car was also killed, and the driver was wounded, Ayub said, adding that two suspects have been arrested. It was not immediately clear if it was a personal conflict or an insurgency attack.

In southern Uruzgan, Taliban militants ambushed a police convoy patrolling late Wednesday night, and the ensuing clash left four policemen and six Taliban dead, said provincial police chief Gen. Abdul Qasim Khan.

[warvetoif3]

Ok didntinhale is a idiot! First off we are talking about Afganistan not Iraq and Obama is not a muslim.What do you read? I think youdidnhale. Are you a solider? I didn't think so. You say some of the dumbest things sometimes. Afganistan is something different from Iraq. No one is talking about running away from there. We all know what we are doing in Afganistan so please keep some of your *** to yourself.

[sarcelle]

Canadians are following with interest the United States election campaign. They know if the Democrats are elected, it might help change their Conservative government orientation about the Afghan War. The Canadian population would like to know what the American people think about the war in Afghanistan and if this war is going to last indefinitely? We (Canadians) are loosing soldiers in Kandahar and we are not too happy about participating in a conflict that seems to go nowhere and ressembles much to the war in Irak. Comments will be appreciated.

[feelfree1]

Re: "Taliban militants have seized control of a district in southeast Afghanistan after a clash that killed five people"

Our invested blood and treasure has finally made Afghanistan safe for Unocal and the Taliban!

What a horrific joke!

Out of Afghanistan! Out of Iraq!

Cheney/Bush for prison in 2007!!!

[freedomisnot]

Pres Bush has said all along he would Veto any Bill that included a timetable. But the boneheaded Democrats playing the political skin flute of the left, insist on proposing a bill they know will fail. Why? To make a political point in a time of War. It does not take someone with a crystal ball to know what's going to happen in Iraq the day Bush Veto's the bill. Bang Boom Bam the democrats will have ingnited a series of explosions killing more innocent women and children. Blood on the alter for the politicians to offer up in their relentless pursuit of power. The Congress overwhelmingly passed the resolution to go to War in Iraq in 03 so those who are calling the war illegal are misinformed. Most of the Dems voted for this too. And now when the going gets tough, the weak kneed and politically ambitous at all costs people are trying to spin the truth.

[beanerman4]

Based on past performance, it is George W., King of the World and Ultimate Decider, who needs a lesson on spelling and grammer.

Of course Bush will V-E-T-O, because it is easy to spell and say, and because 64% of the people are backing the legislation and the Decider doesn't understand what majority means by his 32% padded approval ratio. I sure don't see even a 32% approval on these posts.

[obiquital]

didntinhale, Obama isn't Muslim. And he is 0% Arab and has no relatives in Iraq. If you want to slander someone, come up with something actually somewhat resembling the truth.

bigsk8fan, those are dumb headlines because this article isn't about Iraq.

[bigsk8fan]

Here is another good headline, "More American Soldiers Died Today in George Bush's Illegal War of Aggression in Iraq".

And when he leaves office, "George Bush added to list of defendants, including Donald Rumsfeld, in War Crimes Against Humanity."

And today's headline, "Democrats Not the Same Bush RubberStamp that Republican Lacky Congressmen Are."

Ironically, the war against the Taliban is the only legitimate use of force by Bush. Too bad he went too far and added the illegal war in Iraq. He might actually have kept the support of the American people, and world opinion. The Taliban actually protected Al Qaeda who was responsible for 9/11. No Iraqis were involved.