Daily Security Brief: February 28, 2012

FARAH: Fifteen rebels were detained in western Farah province and two policemen were killed in southern Helmand, officials said on Tuesday.

The suspects were arrested with 20 Kalashnikovs, a mortar shell, an artillery shell, two walkie-talkies and explosives by intelligence operatives in Bala Baluk district, the Afghan spy service said.

A statement from the National Directorate of Security said the detainees had confessed to their involvement in the insurgency and planting roadside bombs in the area.   

In Helmand, two local policemen were shot dead by motorcyclists in the Kart-i-Lagan area of Marja district at about 4pm, police officer, Col. Mohammad Ismail, told Pajhwok Afghan News.

He said the victims were on their way to the district centre when the motorcyclists opened fire on them after a verbal dispute. The assailants made good their escape.

–Zahin & Stanikzai

mm/mud

ISLAMABAD: Unidentified gunmen attacked a bus, killing 18 passengers in Pakistan’s northwestern Kohistan district on Tuesday, officials said.

The incident took place in the Chilas area of the mountainous town on Karakorum highway, the district police chief, Sher Muhammad, told Pajhwok Afghan News.

The ill-fated bus was on its way from Rawalpindi to Gilgit, he said, adding that eight passengers were injured in the incident.

“All passengers were ordered down the bus and were shot,” another official said on condition of anonymity.  He said militants had little influence in the area.

Dr Rabnawaz, medical officer of at the local hospital, said children and women were among the victims. He added two of the injured were in critical condition.

Elsewhere in the northwest, four soldiers and 10 insurgents were killed in a clash in the Seplatoi area of the South Waziristan tribal region late on Monday night.

–Qaisar Yosufzai

Mas/mud

KABUL: Up to 175 people have been detained over the past one week on charges of involvement in disruptive and criminal activities, as well as drug trafficking, in different parts of the country, the Ministry of Interior (MoI) said on Tuesday.

The suspects were detained as a result of operations by Afghan security personnel, a statement from the ministry said. Seventy-three people have arrested for having links to disruptive activities, with security forces seizing 68 landmines and 55 weapons.

Nineteen people were captured on charges of trafficking 715 kilograms of drugs in the Kandahar, Nimroz, Helmand, Takhar, Uruzgan and Kabul provinces, the statement concluded.

–Khwaja Basir Ahmad

myn/mud