Afghani death count
NATO and Afghan troops killed 70 suspected militants who attacked a military base in southern Afghanistan, while a roadside blast killed one NATO soldier and wounded eight others, the alliance said Sunday.
Some 100 to 150 militants attacked a military base north of Tarin Kowt in Uruzgan on Saturday, said Maj. Luke Knittig, a spokesman for the NATO-led force. The alliance and Afghan troops fought back for several hours with small arms fire, attack helicopters and airstrikes.
Seventy insurgents were killed, Knittig said, upgrading an earlier estimate of 55 dead. One Afghan soldier was wounded. It was impossible to independently verify the death toll at the remote battle site.
The New York-based Human Rights Watch complained Friday that NATO’s recent operations have killed dozens of civilians, but it also criticized the Taliban and other insurgents for putting civilians at risk ‘’by using populated areas to launch attacks on NATO and Afghan government forces.'’
Stumble it!