- KHOST, Afghanistan (Reuters)
- Eight Afghan government soldiers were killed on Friday in an attack by
suspected members of the ousted Taliban regime in the southeastern province
of Khost, a military official said.
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- The soldiers were traveling in a four-wheel-drive vehicle
near a market about 25 km (15 miles) east of Khost town when they came
under attack, Commander Sattar, the deputy head of the provincial border
force, told Reuters.
-
- Two men driving in another car overtook the soldiers'
vehicle and then attacked it, he said.
-
- "Apart from the soldiers' car, the two were the
only people driving on the road. We have arrested them and believe they
are Taliban," Sattar said.
-
- At the scene of the attack, witnesses saw a burned-out
vehicle and three bodies charred beyond recognition.
-
- The soldiers were recruits to Afghanistan's fledgling
national army and served along the border with Pakistan. They had been
shopping at the market.
-
- Afghan government and U.S.-led coalition forces have
come under repeated but generally ineffective bomb and rocket attacks in
Khost since the overthrow of Taliban in late 2001.
-
- Afghan officials say that most of the strikes have been
organized by Taliban and allied militants based across the border in Pakistan,
although Islamabad says it is doing its best to seal the frontier.
-
- The attack on Khost came five days after a group of suspected
Taliban guerrillas raided a police station in a remote part the southern
province of Kandahar, killing five officers including a police chief, and
wounding two others.
-
- About 100 Afghan soldiers and civilians have been killed
or wounded in attacks across southern Afghanistan since the start of the
year.
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