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Five Afghan soldiers killed in landmine blast in Spin Boldak

* US-led forces kill 2 suspected Taliban in new Afghan operations

By Azizullah Khan

QUETTA: At least five Afghan soldiers were killed when their vehicle went over a landmine in the Spin Boldak area of southern Afghanistan on Monday evening.

Afghan soldiers started firing in the air after the incident. Reports from Chaman city said Afghan forces were on routine patrol in the village of Sultan Zai, about 4 kilometres from the Pakistani border, when their vehicle went over a mine, which exploded and killed five soldiers. Afghan officials were not available for comment.

Separately, US-led troops killed two suspected insurgents in clashes on Monday in southern Afghanistan, as foreign and Afghan forces conducted three new operations to hunt for remnants of the ousted regime, AFP reported.

US Lt Col Jerry O’Hara said the two were killed in Deh Chopan, a troubled district in southern Zabul province after attacking US troops. “Two insurgents were killed and the others fled the area,” he added.

The operation, dubbed Nam Dong II, was launched last week focusing on south-central Afghanistan, considered a Taliban stronghold, he said. Coalition forces and Afghan troops launched two separate operations aimed at eliminating militants, the military said in a statement.

“Operations Celtic and Markham are also intended to root insurgents out of known safe-havens,” the statement said, referring to the country’s south and southeastern regions, where the militants are most active.

O’Hara said that the operations were led by Afghan forces and that the US-led coalition forces were providing assistance. He did not say how many soldiers were involved in the operation, citing security reasons.

The US military has been criticised for what many Afghans see as heavy-handed tactics, particularly in searches for militants and President Hamid Karzai, now on a visit to the US, said at the weekend he wanted more control of US operations.

Local authorities such as village councils, or shuras, were being kept abreast about the operations, the US military said. Troops on one of the operations discovered an arms cache containing hundreds of thousands of rounds of anti-aircraft ammunition, it said.

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