Taliban stage several attacks in Afghanistan

KANDAHAR, Afghanistan (AFP) - Troops repelled an ambush by rebel fighters in southern Afghanistan yesterday, killing several near a base that dozens of Taliban tried to storm a day earlier, the US-led coalition said.

Insurgents also attacked another base in the south overnight but were fought back and seven were killed, Afghan officials said separately, in another of a series of incidents in the south and east of the country.

In the ambush, insurgents unleashed gun and rocket fire on a coalition and Afghan patrol from several buildings in a remote district in Uruzgan province, the force said in a statement.

The soldiers returned fire and stormed the buildings, clearing them of insurgents, it said.

"Several insurgents were killed, four were captured, including one wounded insurgent. The remaining enemy fighters quickly retreated as air support arrived," the statement said.

The attack took place near the US Firebase Anaconda which about 75 rebels tried to storm on Tuesday with a rare frontal attack using small arms, rocket-propelled grenades and rockets.

The coalition said more than two dozen insurgents were killed in the ensuing firefight.

Uruzgan is one of several provinces in southern and eastern Afghanistan that are flashpoints in an insurgency launched by the extremist Taliban movement after it was removed from government in late 2001.

Seven more Taliban were killed overnight in the adjoining province of Helmand when about 20 stormed a base of a NATO-led force in volatile Sangin district, where authorities have only tenuous control, a local official said.

"There were no casualties to the Afghan and NATO forces," the district governor, named only Azatullah, told AFP.

Five more insurgents were killed late Tuesday when they attacked a police post in an area of Ghazni province where 23 South Korean nationals were abducted three weeks ago.

Police in Qarabagh were tipped off and had positioned themselves in advance, provincial police chief Alishah Ahmadzai told AFP.

Taliban militants have shot dead two of the South Koreans and are demanding the release of jailed fighters in return for the lives of the surviving 21.

Authorities also reported Taliban attacks elsewhere in Ghazni and in the southeastern provinces of Paktika and Paktia. A rebel fighter, an Afghan soldier and a district government chief were killed.

The insurgency, in which the Taliban are said to be aided by Al-Qaeda and funded with foreign cash, has grown steadily every year since it was launched, despite the efforts of international and Afghan troops.

The international force here has risen to about 50,000 troops but they have been unable to help the government establish authority in many areas outside of major centres.