U.S., Afghan forces retake remote town

Published Sunday, June 4, 2006

KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) - Backed by warplanes, U.S. and Afghan troops recaptured a town from suspected Taliban rebels in heavy fighting as violence across southern Afghanistan left at least 35 militants dead, officials said yesterday.

The Afghan government, meanwhile, announced a shake-up of the country’s top police commanders yesterday after the worst anti-foreigner riots in years shook the capital. Kabul’s police chief will be replaced, along with 85 others across the country.

U.S. and Afghan troops retook the southern town of Chori on Friday, killing as many as 20 militants, said Gen. Zahir Azimi, the Defense Ministry spokesman.

Hundreds of insurgents had attacked the town in Uruzgan province Wednesday, moving in when local security forces were forced to flee. While rebels have been increasing attacks in recent weeks, it is unusual for them to successfully control a large chunk of territory for days.

A U.S. military spokesman, Sgt. Chris Miller, said Afghan and U.S. troops suffered no casualties in taking Chori back. He said police had resumed control of the town.

A surge in fighting since mid-May, particularly in southern regions where the Taliban are strongest, has killed more than 400 people, most of them militants.

Violence has also wracked Kabul, with rioters on Monday attacking foreigners after a deadly road accident involving a U.S. military truck.

A spokesman for the Ministry of Interior declined to say whether the police shake-up announced yesterday was linked to the rioting, in which as many as 20 people died.

Insurgents are trying to take advantage of the anti-foreigner sentiment. Yesterday, the Arab broadcaster Al-Jazeera quoted Gulbuddin Hekmatyar, a renegade former Afghan premier wanted by the United States, as threatening new violence against U.S. troops.

"All the Afghan people insist on taking revenge and wish, if you stay for a longer period, to cause you more causalities," Hekmatyar said on an audiotape, Al-Jazeera reported.

It was not immediately possible to verify the comments.