NATO claims Taliban commander killed

[July 17, 2008]  KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) -- NATO reported Thursday that a senior Taliban commander has been killed and Afghan officials said an airstrike left at least 10 insurgents dead and four civilians wounded.

The military alliance said that Bismullah Akhund, an insurgent leader in the southern province of Helmand, was killed on Saturday in Naw Zad district. It did not say how Akhund died.

NATO accused Akhund of supplying weapons and roadside bombs that have killed Afghan and foreign forces in the area - a hub of the insurgency wracking Afghanistan.

Meanwhile, Gen. Mohammad Zahir Azimi, a defense ministry spokesman, said "tens of enemy" were killed during a joint NATO-Afghan army operation in the western province of Herat.

NATO confirmed it launched an airstrike against insurgents that "was effective." It provided no other details.

There were varying accounts of the death toll.

The head of Herat's provincial council, Humayun Azizi, said 10 to 12 militants were killed and that there were also reports of civilian casualties from the airstrikes.

NATO had no immediate comment on the operation.

Abdul Shukur, the Shindand police chief, said three houses were destroyed during the clashes. He said two local militant commanders and their two sons were among the dead.

Four wounded civilians - two children, one man and one woman - were brought to Herat hospital for treatment, Azizi said. Azizi said the raid targeted a militant cell.

He said they were also suspected in kidnappings and said they were holding at least 15 people hostage. It was not clear if any of those allegedly held were killed during the raid.

On Wednesday, the U.S.-led coalition said eight civilians died in airstrikes called in after one of its patrols came under attack in neighboring Farah province.

The issue of civilian casualties has caused friction between the Afghan government and U.S. and NATO troops, and has undermined the standing of Western-backed President Hamid Karzai.

[Associated Press; By AMIR SHAH]

Associated Press writer Rahim Faiez contributed to this report.

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