Militants Kill 11 Policemen in  Kandahar

14 April 2008

Afghan officials say Taliban militants have attacked a police post in the southern Afghan province of Kandahar, killing at least 11 policemen.

U.S. Marines assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 7th Marine Regiment wait aboard a C-17 Globemaster III aircraft at Manas Air Base, Kyrgyz Republic, March 27, 2008, to be flown to Kandahar Air Base in the Helman province of Afghanistan.

The local deputy provincial police chief Amanullah Khan says the militants opened fire on the post in the Arghandab district of Kandahar province early Monday morning.

The police chief said preliminary reports indicate that one of the policemen had links with the Taliban.

In other violence, NATO's International Security Assistance Force says an explosion has killed two of its soldiers in southern Afghanistan.

NATO says two other soldiers were wounded in the blast Sunday. The nationalities of the soldiers were not disclosed.

Separately, a construction project to build an ANA Brigade Headquarters near Farah City started recently.
The project, which will employ 4,000 workers for the year-long construction period, will house 2,000 soldiers.

General Jalandershaw, 207th ANA Kandak commander in Herat, praised the construction project as an important step in the development of the ANA. “We are very happy to see the construction of a new base that will become one of the most important in western Afghanistan.”

The ANA headquarters is part of the United States Army Corps of Engineers’ plan to improve security in Farah province. An excess of $85 million will be spent in Farah on a variety of projects throughout the coming year. Projects include eight ANP headquarters; one in each of the following districts: Shib Koh, Lash wa Jowayn, Gulestan, Purchaman, Bakwa, Pusht Rod, Khaks-e Safid and Qal-I Kah and a Border Police headquarters for 100 men in Qal-e Kah.

Fazlullah Construction Engineering Company (FCEC) will build the headquarters, which will be built using pre-cast construction, a building method new to Afghanistan.