International military planes called in by Afghan security forces killed 16 rebels, apparently all foreigners, suspected of preparing an attack in the countryÂ’s east, police said on Sunday. Six rebels were injured and one was captured following the raid late on Saturday in the province of Paktika on AfghanistanÂ’s border with Pakistan, provincial deputy police chief Farouq Sangari told AFP. The captured militant, an Uzbek national, told the authorities the dead were all foreign nationals from Pakistan, Uzbekistan and Chechnya, the official said.The security forces had acted after intelligence reports that the rebels were preparing to attack the headquarters of the Sarobi district, he said. Insurgents linked to the Taliban movement and its allies in Al Qaeda are said to have bases in Pakistan from where they launch attacks inside Afghanistan as part of an insurgency against the US-backed government.
Suicide attack foiled: Meanwhile, a would-be suicide bomber was shot dead just steps away from a provincial police chief in his headquarters near Kabul on Sunday, chief Ghullam Moustafa told AFP. The attacker was wearing a police uniform and snuck into the headquarters in Logar province south of the capital, the commander said. Guards became suspicious when the man ignored warnings to stop. “Our guards shot and killed him just behind my office door,” Moustafa said. “He was less than five metres away from me,” he added. The would-be attacker was found to be wearing a bomb-filled “suicide vest” underneath the uniform. Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahed claimed responsibility, calling the man “our mujahid (holy fighter)”.The hardliners have vowed to step up attacks during the holy month of Ramazan, which started in mid-September. There have been several suicide bombings since then, including one late last month in which a man in an army uniform blew himself up on a military bus in Kabul, killing 30 people.
NATO shoots civilians: Also, a bombing and a gunbattle killed four police officers and four militants in Afghanistan, officials said on Sunday, while NATO soldiers in the east shot and killed three Afghans, AP reported. Two officers were killed and two others were wounded when a bomb exploded under their car in Yaqoubi district in Khost province on Saturday, said police chief Wazir Pacha.
Also in eastern Afghanistan, a Taliban ambush in Nuristan province left two other officers dead, said police officer Muhammad Daud. Four militants were also killed in SaturdayÂ’s clash, which occurred in the remote Kamdesh district.
Elsewhere in the east, two Afghan civilians were killed in Kunar province when they didn’t stop at a checkpoint, NATO said. The checkpoint had been set up because intelligence indicated insurgents planned to launch an attack on a NATO base. In Paktika province, a “suspicious” man was shot and killed after being asked to halt, NATO said.