US forces kill up to 24 Afghan guerillas after attack on convoy

US-led forces killed as many as 24 people who attacked a coalition convoy in south-western Afghanistan overnight, the US military said yesterday.

“Special operation forces killed 22-24 enemy soldiers when an unknown element attacked a coalition convoy.

Spin Boldak on Saturday,” the military statement said.

“Coalition forces drove through the area, requested close air support and engaged the enemy forces, killing approximately five people,” said the statement, released from Bagram air base 50km north of Kabul.

Another 17-19 people were killed as the AH-64 Apache helicopters raided the enemy positions over the surrounding hills.

“AH-64 Apaches provided the air support, making several passes on the hill, killing approximately 17-19 more enemies,” the statement said.

No coalition casualties were reported.

The statement did not identify the attackers, but similar incidents in the past were blamed on Taliban remnants and their allies from Osama bin Laden’s al-Qaida terror network.

Earlier, the US military reported that two US troops and an Afghan soldier were injured in an ambush in south-eastern Afghanistan’s Paktika province.

“Two coalition soldiers and one Afghan military forces soldier were wounded when their patrol was ambushed to the north of Orgun about 11am on Saturday,” a statement said.

“The wounded soldiers were evacuated to a base near Khost,” it said. “They are in stable condition and are being moved to the US Army hospital at Bagram.”

“Enemy forces that engaged the patrol were armed with AK-47 rifles and rocket-propelled grenades,” it said. The names of the wounded troops were withheld.

Three US soldiers were wounded and eight Afghan soldiers were killed in two separate landmine incidents last week in south-eastern Afghanistan, which Afghan authorities later blamed on al-Qaida.

Suspected Taliban and al-Qaida fighters, in an apparent change of tactics, have begun attacking US-led convoys and using landmines rather than launching rusty and old rockets which rarely hit their intended targets.

“We have seen more direct attacks and faced improvised explosive devices, planted on the roads over the past month,” the US military has said.

Some 19 months after the toppling of the Taliban regime, remnants of the militia continue to launch regular attacks on foreign and pro-government targets mainly in the troubled south and eastern provinces bordering Pakistan.