US commander says Taliban beheadings led to US air strikes that locals say killed civilians

October 10th, 2009 KABUL - Six Taliban militants, including a rebel commander, were killed in fighting with the security forces in Wardak province in Afghanistan, police said Saturday. The special forces backed by the international troops attacked a Taliban hideout in Chek district Friday, killing Mullah Yasin, a senior Taliban commander, along with his five associates, senior police officer General Abdul Razaq said.

September 29th, 2009 KABUL - A key Taliban commander was killed in Afghanistan's Kunduz province by policemen, police said Tuesday. "Policemen shot dead Taliban key commander Mullah Rashid in Kunduz province during an operation Monday evening," said the province's Inspector General of Police Abdul Razaq Yaqubi.

September 26th, 2009 KABUL - The Taliban have executed three civilians in Western Afghan province of Herat in an apparent bid to terrify government servicemen, the police said Saturday. "The rebels sprayed bullets and killed three brothers (of a family) on charge of spying for the government in Gazara district Friday," Ikramudin Yawar, senior police officer in west Afghanistan, told Xinhua.

September 23rd, 2009 Roadside bomb kills 5 Afghan civiliansKABUL — Five Afghan civilians died when their van struck a roadside bomb in western Farah province, a police official said Wednesday. The private van was heading toward neighboring Ghor province on Tuesday when it hit the bomb, which also wounded eight others, said Raouf Ahmadi, a police spokesman for the western region.

September 4th, 2009 KUNDUZ - Ninety people were killed Friday when a NATO airstrike hit two Taliban-hijacked oil tankers in the northern Afghan province of Kunduz as the militants were distributing fuel to civilians, Kunduz's governor said. The militants stopped the two oil trucks, which were bound for German forces stationed in Kunduz, Thursday night on the highway connecting Kunduz with the neighbouring province of Baghlan, Governor Mohammad Omar said.

August 27th, 2009 US chopper blasts clinic after Taliban checks inKABUL — NATO and Afghan officials say a U.S. helicopter has attacked a medical clinic in eastern Afghanistan after a wounded Taliban commander sought treatment there.

June 24th, 2009 Deadliest US missile strikes in PakistanUnmanned U.S. drone aircraft have fired missiles at suspected militant targets in Pakistan's tribal region dozens of times in the past two years.

June 24th, 2009 KABUL - Afghan troops killed 23 Taliban fighters in Uruzgan province, a senior military commander said Wednesday. "Acting upon intelligence report, Afghan troops backed by the US-led Coalition forces pounded Taliban militants in Chinartook area, killing 23 rebels including their commander Mullah Ismael Kuchi," commander of Afghan Corps in the region General Shir Mohammad Zazi told Xinhua.

June 22nd, 2009 NEW YORK - General Stanley A. McChrystal, the new American commander in Afghanistan, has said he would sharply restrict the use of airstrikes here, in an effort to reduce the civilian deaths, which were undermining the US-led mission.

June 11th, 2009 KABUL - A Taliban commander and more than a dozen suspected insurgents were killed in air strikes by coalition forces in Afghanistan's northwest Ghor province, a military statement said Wednesday. Mullah Mustafa, the Taliban commander who was involved in activities against the government and US-led forces in the province and neighbouring areas, was killed in the attack, the statement said.

June 9th, 2009 WASHINGTON - The Pentagon investigation into a US airstrike in Afghanistan last month that killed scores of civilians has concluded there were "problems" with how the attack was carried out, a spokesman has said. US Central Command is expected to soon release the report of the May 4 incident in Afghanistan's Farah province.

May 19th, 2009 WASHINGTON - Admiral Mike Mullen, the chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff, has refused to rule out unmanned drone strikes in Pakistan and Afghanistan. He also said the United States cannot be successful in Afghanistan if large numbers of civilians keep getting killed during the conflict.

May 6th, 2009 KABUL - The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) on Wednesday claimed that dozens of people, including women and children, had been killed in US-led coalition air strikes in western Afghanistan. The ICRC statement prompted Afghan President Hamid Karzai to immediately order an investigation.

March 21st, 2009 KABUL - Thirteen Taliban militants were killed in fighting with Afghan security forces in the southern province of Helmand, a military official said Saturday. Twentyfive people were also detained following the Friday night operation, Helmand military commander Mohidin Ghori said.

February 13th, 2009 ISLAMABAD - At least 26 people were killed Saturday when a suspected US drone fired two missiles on a militant hideout in Pakistan's northwestern tribal region, an intelligence official said. Seven people were also injured in the attack in South Waziristan, a known sanctuary of Taliban and Al Qaeda militants launching cross-border attacks on international troops in Afghanistan.