Afghan and coalition soldiers killed more than 30 insurgents, including 13 would-be suicide bombers, as they fought off assaults on two military bases and government buildings in eastern Afghanistan, the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) said on Sunday.
The attacks, which happened Saturday morning, were led by Haqqani network insurgents and were against Forward Operating Base Salerno and Forward Operating Base Chapman, ISAF said. Both bases are located in Khost province, a volatile region on Afghanistan's rugged border with Pakistan.
The Haqqani network is a militant group with ties to al Qaeda.
Insurgents clad in U.S. military uniforms and wielding rocket-propelled grenades and small arms launched simultaneous attacks on the two bases, ISAF said. ISAF had previously reported more than 20 insurgents had died in the fighting.
Thirteen of the insurgents killed were wearing suicide vests, ISAF said, adding that Afghan and coalition soldiers followed up on intelligence tips and later captured a commander involved in planning the attacks.
"The insurgents' attempts to attack ISAF or Afghan government facilities were defeated again. The insurgent leadership who direct these ill-conceived attacks far from the actual battlefield knows their low-level fighters have no chance of success against these targets," Brig. Gen. Josef Blotz, an ISAF spokesman, said in a statement.
Separately on Sunday, ISAF said Afghan and international forces captured a senior Taliban commander in Logar province. Zia Ul-Haq is accused of helping foreign fighters and suicide bombers get into the capital, Kabul.
He was captured along with a sub-commander and another insurgent on Wednesday, ISAF said in a statement.
Chapman is the same base where a suicide bomber killed seven CIA officers late last year.
(www.cnn.com)
The attacks, which happened Saturday morning, were led by Haqqani network insurgents and were against Forward Operating Base Salerno and Forward Operating Base Chapman, ISAF said. Both bases are located in Khost province, a volatile region on Afghanistan's rugged border with Pakistan.
The Haqqani network is a militant group with ties to al Qaeda.
Insurgents clad in U.S. military uniforms and wielding rocket-propelled grenades and small arms launched simultaneous attacks on the two bases, ISAF said. ISAF had previously reported more than 20 insurgents had died in the fighting.
Thirteen of the insurgents killed were wearing suicide vests, ISAF said, adding that Afghan and coalition soldiers followed up on intelligence tips and later captured a commander involved in planning the attacks.
"The insurgents' attempts to attack ISAF or Afghan government facilities were defeated again. The insurgent leadership who direct these ill-conceived attacks far from the actual battlefield knows their low-level fighters have no chance of success against these targets," Brig. Gen. Josef Blotz, an ISAF spokesman, said in a statement.
Separately on Sunday, ISAF said Afghan and international forces captured a senior Taliban commander in Logar province. Zia Ul-Haq is accused of helping foreign fighters and suicide bombers get into the capital, Kabul.
He was captured along with a sub-commander and another insurgent on Wednesday, ISAF said in a statement.
Chapman is the same base where a suicide bomber killed seven CIA officers late last year.
(www.cnn.com)
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