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'Dozens dead' in Afghan clashes Karzai unhurt in Taleban attack
(about 2 hours later)
Thirty Taleban rebels and two members of the security forces have died in an intense military clash in north-west Afghanistan, the authorities say. Afghan President Hamid Karzai has escaped unhurt after the Taleban fired rockets at a meeting he was addressing in the province of Ghazni.
Militants attacked police posts in Badghis province, near the border with Turkmenistan. The Taleban have disputed the government's account. Several rockets were fired but missed their target and nobody was hurt, according to government officials.
There were also reports that 27 insurgents have been killed in the southern Zabul province. Some of the audience panicked during the incident, but Mr Karzai urged calm and was able to finish his speech.
Separately, a general has been shot dead in the southern city of Kandahar. Earlier, officials said 30 Taleban and two police had been killed in intense fighting in north-west Afghanistan.
The city's chief police officer said Gen Daoud Salehi, who was training a local police force, was shot dead while having his hair cut in the city centre. Militants attacked police in Badghis province, near the Turkmenistan border.
'Back under control' The Taleban have disputed the government's account.
The police chief of Badghis province told the BBC that a large number of Taleban insurgents had launched an attack in a remote district on Saturday afternoon.The police chief of Badghis province told the BBC that a large number of Taleban insurgents had launched an attack in a remote district on Saturday afternoon.
He said that in six hours of fighting, 30 of the Taleban and two policemen were killed, adding that the district was fully back in government control. He said that in six hours of fighting, 30 of the Taleban and two policemen were killed, adding that the district was back in government control.
A Taleban spokesman, also talking to the BBC, contradicted this account, saying the rebels were in control of the district and inflicted heavier casualties on the government side. A Taleban spokesman, also talking to the BBC, contradicted this account, saying the rebels were in control of the district and had inflicted heavier casualties on the government side.
This part of Badghis did see a big battle four years ago, but more recently it has not seen the scale and frequency of violence regularly occurring in the south and east. In other developments:
In the south, Nato and Afghan troops clashed with militants and called in air strikes, leaving 27 suspected Taliban insurgents dead in the district of Shinkay, the Associated Press news agency quoted a Defence Ministry spokesman as saying.
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  • Twenty-seven insurgents have been killed in Nato air strikes in the district of Shinkay in the southern Zabul province, the defence ministry says
The operation followed intelligence reports of militant activity in the area, the spokesman said. There were no reports of civilian casualties.
  • A general has been shot dead in central Kandahar while having his hair cut
    • In additional incidents over the past couple of days, a British soldier has died in Helmand, also in the south.
  • A British soldier has been killed in the southern province of Helmand
    • 'Concerned and worried'
    Officials said Mr Karzai's visit to Ghazni was routine.
    He was giving a speech to elders and residents of Andar district about the building of roads and hospitals in the area when the attack occurred.
    Rockets fell a few hundred metres from where Mr Karzai was speaking.
    According to local journalists, he briefly stopped his speech, before telling people to calm down and return to their seats.
    The Afghan president, who has survived two assassination attempts in recent years, was taken away under heavy security.