http://www.arabnews.com/?page=4§ion=0&article=92817&d=27&m=2&y=2007
District Governor Held for Taleban Links Agencies KABUL, 27 February 2007 — Afghan authorities have detained a district governor and his police commander for alleged links with the Taleban after militants briefly captured the area a week ago, the government said yesterday. The Interior Ministry, meanwhile, again warned Taleban fighters who have occupied a small southern town for more than three weeks to leave or face military action including airstrikes. The detained officials, from Bakwa district in the western province of Farah, were dismissed from their jobs after Taleban were able to hold the district capital for several hours before being ejected by security forces. “They were detained over links to Taleban,” Interior Ministry spokesman Zemarai Bashary said of district chief Mohammad Ismail and his police chief, Haikal Khan. About 300 Taleban rebels attacked the town overnight last Monday and forced out the weak police force. Afghan security forces backed by the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force retook it the next day. Fighters with the extremist movement, forced out of government in 2001, captured a number of districts in southern and eastern Afghanistan last year but were easily pushed out by troops. They have been holding Musa Qala district in southern Helmand province for more than three weeks. Bashary reiterated yesterday that the government, which has been trying to negotiate with the rebels, was ready to use force to eject them. “We have the capability to retake the district by force. However we again call on the Taleban to leave it before we get into action,” he said. “We don’t want civilians to be hurt, so we ask the Taleban to leave otherwise they’ll be forced out.” A resident of Musa Qala, contacted by AFP by telephone, said the rebels were still in the district and the main town was quiet, with most shops closed. Also yesterday, a suicide attacker with an explosive strapped around his body detonated himself in front of a police station in southeast Afghanistan, killing a police officer, Bashary said. The attack took place in Khost city, the capital of Khost province, yesterday morning when police stopped a man who was behaving strangely, Bashary told reporters. Meanwhile, Britain will deploy nearly 1,400 extra troops to southern Afghanistan, where NATO forces are bracing for a Taleban spring offensive, Defense Secretary Des Browne said in London yesterday. The announcement of extra forces for Afghanistan — some in May, but most over the course of the coming summer — came less than a week after Prime Minister Tony Blair announced a cut of 1,600 troops serving in Iraq. The extra forces, which he said would take the total number of British troops in Afghanistan from 6,300 to 7,700, will mostly be deployed to the troubled Helmand province, Browne told lawmakers. He acknowledged that Britain was taking a greater share of the burden in front-line areas than other NATO allies, but argued that London had no alternative but to take responsibility. +++ ------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor --------------------~--> See what's inside the new Yahoo! Groups email. http://us.click.yahoo.com/0It09A/bOaOAA/yQLSAA/TySplB/TM --------------------------------------------------------------------~-> -------------------------- Want to discuss this topic? Head on over to our discussion list, [EMAIL PROTECTED] -------------------------- Brooks Isoldi, editor [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.intellnet.org Post message: osint@yahoogroups.com Subscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Unsubscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED] *** FAIR USE NOTICE. This message contains copyrighted material whose use has not been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. 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