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Twenty-One Taliban Reported Killed In South Afghanistan

August 6, 2007 -- Provincial officials in southern Afghanistan today said that local and foreign forces killed at least 21 Taliban militants in an operation launched late on August 5.

The operation reportedly began after intelligence suggested a group of Taliban fighters in the Shah Joy district of Zabul Province were attempting to block the key highway between Kandahar and the capital, Kabul.

No casualties were reported among Afghan or coalition forces.

Meanwhile today, German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier called for Germany to take a greater role in the international coalition in Afghanistan, and warned that a withdrawal of German would represent a victory for the Taliban.

In a statement published in the newspaper "Bild," Steinmeier called for broader German assistance in training and equipping Afghan forces.

The German parliament is scheduled to vote in October on prolonging the mandate of the country's mission in Afghanistan, where it has about 3,000 troops.

And in Tokyo today, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe urged his political opponents to reconsider their opposition to extending Japan's non-combat mission in Afghanistan. Laws enacted after September 2001 that allow the officially pacifist Japan to provide fuel and logistical support to the international counterterrorism effort expire on November 1.

(AFP, Reuters)

Copyright (c) 2007. RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036. www.rferl.org