Page 24 - KPA MAY 26
P. 24
WORLD NEWS 9
Tuesday 26 May 2015
At Press Time:
Afghan official: 19 police, 7 soldiers dead in ongoing siege
MIRWAIS KHAN “They destroyed or cap- truck bomb attack and a
separate roadside bomb-
Associated Press tured most of our check- ing in southern Afghani-
stan killed 11 people and
KANDAHAR, Afghani- points and now they have wounded dozens more, as
the Taliban clashed with
stan (AP) — Taliban gun- reached our police head- supporters of the Islamic
State group in the west, of-
men have surrounded a quarters,” Khan said. “They ficials said.
Gov. Asif Nang said the Tal-
police compound in the are mostly firing at us from iban have been clashing
with rival insurgents claim-
volatile southern province the hills overlooking our ing allegiance to the IS
group for three days in the
of Helmand after killing 19 compound.” western Farah province,
leaving at least 10 Taliban
policemen and seven sol- As Khan spoke, gunfire and fighters and 15 IS support-
ers dead. He provided no
diers in an ongoing siege, shouting could be heard in further details.
The clashes provide the lat-
a senior police officer said the background. est indication of a small but
growing Islamic State pres-
on Monday from inside the Helmand has long been a ence in the country.q
compound. heartland for the Taliban,
Napas Khan, the police who profit heavily from opi-
chief in the Naw Zad dis- um produced in its fertile Afghanistan, security forces take position during a fighting
outside a government compound in Helmand province,
trict, told The Associated river valley. Afghanistan. Taliban gunmen have surrounded a police
compound in Helmand after killing 19 policemen and seven
Press by telephone that the Government forces soldiers in an ongoing siege, a senior police officer said on
Monday from inside the compound. (AP Photo/ Abdul Khaliq)
insurgents had advanced launched an operation
to within 20 meters (65 feet) against the insurgents
of the compound after in March, in the hope
seizing police vehicles and of reducing the impact gents have also stepped sassinations and kidnap-
up suicide attacks and, in pings.
weapons and blocking all of the Taliban’s annual some areas, targeted as- Also on Monday, a suicide
roads out of Naw Zad. warm weather offensive.
“We need an immediate Since that offensive was
response from the govern- launched, however, in late
ment,” Khan said. April, attacks across the
He said the attack started country have intensified,
at before dawn on Mon- spreading government
day when the insurgents forces thin.
overran multiple police As well as the time-worn
checkpoints across the dis- guerrilla-style tactics of
trict. fight-and-run, the insur-
Gunman, 7 other soldiers killed
in Tunis military barracks attack
BEN BOUAZZA by an investigation.
Associated Press
TUNIS, Tunisia (AP) — A Tu- Police reinforcements
nisian soldier opened fire
on fellow troops at a mili- were sent to the area af-
tary barracks in the capi-
tal Monday, killing seven ter the shooting, combing
people before he was him-
self killed, a spokesman for nearby streets, while a he-
Tunisia’s Defense Ministry
said. licopter circled overhead.
Belhassen Oueslati said 10
others were injured in the The Defense Ministry said
shooting, including one
person who was in a seri- a nearby school was also
ous condition.
He described the incident evacuated.
as an “isolated act, not a
terrorist act” and said the Authorities sought to calm
motive will be determined
the public in a city where
tensions remain high after
an attack on the National
Bardo Museum on March
18 that killed 22 people,
mostly foreign tourists. The
shooting at the Bouchou-
cha barracks was about
a kilometer from the
museum.q
