Up to 105 Die in Fierce Afghan Violence

Up to 105 Die in Fierce Afghan Violence
Up to 105 Die in Fierce Afghan Violence; Coalition Forces Engage in Multiple Fights; Rebels Assault Village

By NOOR KHAN

KANDAHAR, Afghanistan May 18, 2006 (AP)— Some of the fiercest violence since the Taliban's 2001 ouster erupted across Afghanistan, with coalition forces engaging in multiple firefights, two suicide car bombs and a massive rebel assault on a small village. Up to 105 people were killed.

The estimates of Taliban fighters and suicide bombers killed ranged up to 87, with 14 Afghan police, an American civilian, an Afghan civilian and a Canadian soldier also killed in the multiple attacks late Wednesday and Thursday, officials said.

The battles between Afghan or coalition forces and Taliban militants which were concentrated in the south follow months of stepped-up attacks in the region.

An assault by hundreds of enemy fighters on a small southern town was one of the largest attacks by militants since 2001 and marked another escalation in the campaign by supporters of the former Taliban regime to challenge the U.S.-backed government of President Hamid Karzai.
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