Taliban commander vows revenge for killings

A Taliban military commander vowed revenge yesterday for the killing of his fighters in what Afghan officials said was the hardline group's biggest defeat since it was driven from power in late 2001.

But Hafiz Abdul Rahim, commander of Taliban forces in southern Afghanistan denied that about 40 Taliban guerillas were killed in Wednesday's fighting in the Loi Karez area, about 30 kilometres northeast of the border town of Spin Boldak.

He said eight Taliban fighters, including two commanders were killed, and the rest of the dead were all civilians.

He said three wounded Taliban soldiers were shot to death by government forces in Wat village after the fighting.

"We will definitely take revenge for this massacre," Rahim told Reuters by telephone from an undisclosed location.

He also said attacks would be launched on American and Afghan forces hunting remnants of the Taliban and their al Qaeda allies. Al Qaeda has been accused by the United States of carrying out the September 11, 2001, attacks on New York and Washington.

"We are regrouping on the directives of our supreme leader Mullah Mohammad Omar," he said. "Jihad in Afghanistan will continue." Jihad is Muslim holy war.

Afghan officials said the fighting erupted in Loi Karez after Taliban fighters attacked the district commissioner's office, killing about six government men.

Khalid Pashtun, spokesman for the provincial governor, said it was the Taliban's biggest setback in terms of lives lost since the group's overthrow by a US-led coalition in late 2001.

Government officials laid out 21 bodies they said were Taliban fighters in no-man's land between Afghanistan and Pakistan to allow relatives to collect them.

Afghan officials have reported an upsurge in Taliban activity close to the border with Pakistan.

The US military said this week hundreds of US-led forces were hunting Taliban and al Qaeda remnants in another province bordering Pakistan and 21 suspects had been detained.

About 11,500 foreign troops are in Afghanistan searching for remnants of the Taliban and al Qaeda.