AIP: District chief wounded in clash near Shindand

Text of report by private Pakistan-based Afghan Islamic Press news agency

Herat, 12 October: A district police chief and a policeman have been wounded in [western] Afghanistan.

Speaking to Afghan Islamic Press [AIP], the chief of Shindand district of Herat province, Hajji Mohammad Alam, this afternoon said that a number of armed Taleban last evening attacked the vehicle of Shindand police chief in an area two kilometres away from the Shindand police headquarters, wounding the police chief and one policeman.

He added: “After that, a clash took place between the police and the Taleban which lasted for an hour and it seems that heavy casualties were inflicted on the Taleban because there is a lot of blood in the area after the Taleban escaped but we have no exact figure.”

At the same time, speaking to AIP from an undisclosed location on the phone, the Taleban spokesman, Qari Yusof Ahmadi, said: “The Taleban last night attacked the Shindand police headquarters, wounding the police chief and killing five policemen.”

He also claimed that the Taleban have taken weapons and other ammunition from the police headquarters.

[Description of Source: Peshawar Afghan Islamic Press in Pashto -- Peshawar-based agency, staffed by Afghans. The agency used to have good contacts with Taliban leadership; however, since the fall of the Taliban regime, it now describes itself as independent and self-financing. OSC IAP20071012950050 0932 GMT 12 Oct 07]